As I Shout
by potNpaN
Summary: When Jaune finally unlocks his semblance, it's right when bad things start to happen! Now he has to try and stop the world from ending while trying to learn how his stupid thing works. And what does it have to do with all these dragons? Skyrim Crossoverish
1. A Boy and His Wyvern

**A/N** : **Woo hoo! First story published in literally years! This crazy stupid idea kept bothering me and that wasn't really something I need during Finals but... oh well. It wasn't as if I was planning on** ** _passing_** **or anything.**

 **I'm going to try and upload a chapter a week and see how this goes and see if mah lazy bones can actually stick to a schedule. Hopefully, or not so hopefully, RWBY authors won't suddenly flood the place iwth awesome stories or I may just be too occupied reading their stuff!**

 **:D**

 **Anyways, enuffa me rambling, here's... something!**

Today, Jaune thought, was a bit of a bittersweet moment.

Things were going pretty well after Team RWBY and JNPR beat Cinder. Jaune was improving greatly under Pyrrha's tutelage along with a few extra lessons from his other friends. He wasn't the annoying dork that he used to be when he came over to Beacon and was finally able to make friends with Weiss and Blake, who were probably the hardest to make friends with. His grades were steady if not the best all around.

Yeah, everything was going pretty swell.

Until the freaking Wyvern attacked.

Beacon's grounds shook when a fierce roar echoed through the air. No alarm was needed for the students to understand that the school was being attacked. Kids streamed out of classrooms, drawing their weapons in preparation to battle the literal forces of evil. Along with them came the two protagonist teams, who stopped in shock as they threw themselves into a battlefield.

Hundreds of Grimm swarmed through, held back by the wave of students and staff valiantly trying to stem the flood. Nevermore, Boarbatusks, Beowulfs… the whole shebang decided that they had enough of living and decided to throw themselves en masse at Beacon in a suicide rush. The only thing that stopped the residents of Beacon from laughing was an enormous Grimm that blocked out the sun.

It looked ferocious, with its teeth that were the size of a child's forearm, and wings that could have spanned across a Bullhead. It looked sleek and elegant and _deadly_.

"This is impossible. Drakes and Wyverns don't wander so far into the mainland anymore." Ozpin stood there in shock and wonder at the sight. Oobleck nodded in awe at the sight. "That is correct Ozpin. This thing of beauty usually resides deep in the Grimmlands. What luck!"

Ozpin's lips pressed together. "Yes. What luck it is to have this monstrosity bearing down on our students." Oobleck at least had the grace to look sheepish at the sarcastic comeback. Professor Goodwitch hasn't wasted anytime in talking, instead creating spikes out of Dust and particles to assault the dragon.

For something that was the size of a house, it was more agile than it looked. It weaved through many of the projectiles, incinerating the ones that it couldn't dodge.

As the professors were trying to figure out how to bring down the beast and the students were trying to push back the waves of monsters, Jaune froze after killing a particularly small Ursa.

 _Dovah…_

Something niggled in the back of his mind, barely noticeable if it wasn't for the persistence of the sound. Jaune pulled out of the frontlines and looked up at the creature in the sky that blasted out fire and ice and fury down into the crowds. If it wasn't for the fact that everyone here was basically a superhero, there would've been a massive amount of casualties by now.

"Pyrrha, Nora, Ren!" Jaune called out to grab their attention. "We need to take it down!" He pointed Crocea Mors at the Wyvern. Pyrrha, in all her untouchable Spartan glory, hesitated.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" She asked uncertainly. "The teachers seem to be trying to take it down already, and it seems to be very difficult to kill."

"I know," Jaune said. "but I just have a feeling okay?" Pyrrha still looked unsure, and was going to argue before the Wyvern turned its attention on Jaune. It's beady red eyes looked at Jaune, then noticed the sword that he carried. It opened its jaws and roared, making the ground shake. Jaune swore that even the clouds looked like they were vibrating.

 _Dovahkiin_ , it seemed to say, which rang in Jaune's mind like a bell. Jaune raised his shield and screamed out a challenge on instinct, which caused the Wyvern to fold its wings into itself and dive towards Jaune. The people around him screamed in brief terror before evacuating the area around him. Jaune himself dove to the left as the Wyvern crashed into the ground. What should have been a smooth roll became a stumble and a clumsy recovery as the ground quaked. Jaune didn't let it deter him as he banged on his shield to draw its attention.

 _That's it…_

 _Embrace it…_

The Wyvern turned its head before it was peppered with gunfire from Miló, Sunflower, and Crescent Rose. It turned its head to roar at the annoyances before whipping its head the other way, getting hit with a grenade from Magnhild. Even the grenade didn't do anything but distract it however. It blasted fire into teams RWBY and JNPR, causing them to scatter or risk being roasted. Jaune took that time to get closer to the Wyvern and struck with as much strength as he could.

Crocea Mors glowed a brief yellow before cutting through the layers of scales. The monstrosity wailed and lashed out with its arms, which also flared its wings out enough to clip Jaune before he could pull up his shield. He fell to the side for a brief moment, stunned at the hit and unable to process the fact that the mouth of the Wyvern was quickly approaching his head.

"Jaune!" Weiss shouted before creating a glyph that pushed him out of the way just in time. The creature roared in frustration, blasting another sheet of fire across the ground. More Dust spikes rained down on its hide, causing the monster to turn and blast an icy beam towards the offending witch.

Jaune took the opportunity to stumble back onto his feet and slashed its torso again, cutting deep and causing the Wyvern to once again lash out in pain. Luckily, Jaune was ready this time and hid behind his shield.

This was something Pyrrha trained into him thousands of times, saving his life on multiple occasions against enemies. What it didn't account for, however, was weight.

You see, blocking was a good thing to do with forces that you could handle. For a Hunter-in-training, that was a lot of force.

An enormous Wyvern's leg, possibly weighing more than two trucks put together, going several miles per hour, wasn't a lot of force.

It was an _ass ton_ of force.

Again Jaune went flying, only to be caught by Blake's ribbon stretched out between her and Yang.

"Thanks." Jaune panted out, thoroughly winded at this point.

Ruby dropped next to him, settling Crescent Rose and firing off some rounds to keep the beast occupied.

"How'd you do that?!" She asked.

"Do what?"

"Hurt it!" Ruby pointed at the two long jagged lines that ran across the Wyvern's body. "We've been throwing everything we've got at it and it was barely hurt. Your sword cut through it like butter though."

Huh. Ruby wasn't wrong.

Jaune looked at his sword. Nope, it was still the same old Crocea Mors with its dinks and chips. He glanced over at the Wyvern, who was slowly making its way towards Jaune and the group. Its eyes were up to the brim with hatred, as if nothing in the world mattered except killing the boy in front of it.

Jaune brandished his sword again, ready to take the Wyvern head on.

 _Take it…_

 _Destroy it…_

Professor Goodwitch dropped by Jaune, practically appearing from nowhere and scaring the literal crap out of him.

"Holy…" Jaune swore, managing to cut off before digging himself into a deeper pit in front of the teacher.

"Mr. Arc, it seems as if the Grimm wants to kill you." Goodwitch said calmly, while levitating several more pieces of debris.

No kidding, Jaune wanted to say, but opted for more practical use of his time. "I have a plan."

Goodwitch nodded. "I would certainly hope so Mr. Arc, or else you may not live for tomorrow's lessons."

Ignoring the brief consideration of 'hey, maybe dying isn't all that bad,' Jaune called for Ruby, Blake, and Nora to cover the Wyvern with bullets. He asked Pyrrha to borrow Akoúo and tossed it over to Yang. Borrowing a page from initiation, he jumped on the shield while yelling instructions to Weiss, and was blasted sky high. Ignoring the overwhelming need to throw up, as it would serve no purpose but to demoralize everyone it touched, Jaune aligned himself perfectly with the increasingly irate Wyvern, who was still trying to eat the puny humans firing their puny pellets at it.

At the peak of Jaune's boost, a glyph formed underneath his feet and propelled him to speeds comparable to Ruby using her semblance.

 _Do it…_

 _DESTROY IT!_

In a flash of a second and a roar of anger, the blade buried itself into the Wyvern's skull, causing it to recoil and toss Jaune, once again, away from it.

Ren, using his mastery of Aura, created a quick bed for Jaune to fall onto as Nora unfolded Magnhild is glee.

"Nora, Boop it!" Jaune screamed out, causing a squeal of glee from Nora before she pounced, somersaulting one, twice before bashing the hammer onto the hilt of Crocea Mors, effectively driving it through the head of the monster like a staple gun.

And just like that, the Wyvern collapsed, dead under the abuse of the eight Hunters-in-training.

In that instant the other Grimm rose in confusion, before quickly turning to run away back into the forests. The school cheered in happiness, celebrating the victory as Grimm parts started to dissolve.

The two teams surrounded Jaune to congratulate him on a job well done for leading them all, which he took with a few bashful grins and thank yous before moving to retrieve Crocea Mors, which was buried underneath the mass of the Wyvern.

Pyrrha's eyebrows gathered together in confusion.

"Why isn't it dissolving…" She murmured in wonder.

Jaune ignored the question and got closer and closer to the body.

 _Claim it…_

 _It's yours…_

 _TAKE it._

Without another word, Jaune touched the snout of the Wyvern.

Instantly, the body started to flake apart, revealing a soft orange glow underneath. Before anyone else could react, strands of light streamed towards Jaune and hit him right in the chest.

With a strangled cry, Jaune took in the essence of the Wyvern. Flashes of memories that weren't his came into his mind.

 _Fire_

 _Death_

 _Superiority_

As Jaune fell to his knees, he could hear the faint sound of his friends calling his name, and footfalls getting closer and closer. Beneath all of that was a growl that only got louder and louder until it drowned everything else out.

Then he heard nothing.


	2. Azura and Her Champion

**A/N: Heyo! It's another chapter a day earlier than planned! Thanks everyone who followed and favorited and reviewed... y'all are the best! 'Nyways, a reviewer made a good point in saying that Dragons don't have a concept of mortality, so the 'deathly' part of that last part of the last chapter might be a little weird.**

 **You catch my drift?**

 **Well, I was meaning to show the Dragon's propensity to inflict death 'n stuff, but ya I don't think it'll take away too much from the story... probably.**

 **:)**

 **This chapter's gonna be more exposition and setting up the story... a little boring to some maybe. On the other hand, next chapter you'll be seeing some Dovahkiin style shouting ;)**

 **Anyways, onwards to the story!**

* * *

 _Fire was everywhere._

 _Jaune turned around and saw everything. People, Grimm… more…_

 _He spread his wings over them all and felt them kneel at his feet. They were his._

 _He opened his mouth and leaned over, ready to take a bite out of the offering laid at his feet. He could feel his spine tingle with pleasure at the horror in the eyes of the girl being offered to him._

 _"Jaune…" She pleaded. He closed his mouth over her body._

 _"JAUNE!" She shrieked._

Jaune shook awake, screaming. NPR and RWBY, who were all perched beside him, recoiled in shock. Jaune put his hands on his face, breathing heavily and trying to wipe away the memory of him eating that girl. He flinched when someone laid a hand on his shoulder.

"Are you alright Jaune?" Pyrrha asked in concern.

Jaune looked around to see pretty much the exact same question in everyone else's eyes. Jaune gave another few shaky deep breaths before he gave a small smile to all of them.

"Sorry. Bad dream." He said.

They all looked at each other before focusing back on Jaune.

"What?" He asked, confused at all the looks that were being exchanged. Ruby was the first to answer his question.

"Well…" She started, twiddling her fingers nervously. "You kind of, you know, started to mumble in your sleep and I know that's normal when you're having a nightmare and all, but you were doing this thing too, and _man_ was it weird," Ruby gave a nervous giggle and waved her arms around the place, "and we were worried 'cause it's never happened before and we didn't know what to _do_ and then you woke up and-"

"What Ruby is trying to say," Weiss cut in, glaring at Ruby to shut up. "Is that for some reason, while you were sleeping, you started to… glow."

Jaune blinked in confusion.

"Glow?"

The crowd around him nodded.

Jaune looked at his hands and frowned.

"It doesn't look like I'm glowing…"

"That's because it stopped when you woke up you dunce." Weiss huffed, crossing her arms. Jaune just pouted, a little hurt.

"Hey. No calling the bed ridden names." Weiss just rolled her eyes, trying her best not to smile.

"Well," Jaune said, patting his knees to make sure that everything was working fine. "I'm not glowing anymore, and I'm awake. Can I leave now?" The nurse that had been looming in the background made a step forward, clearing her throat.

"Well it all depends on you Mr. Arc. How do you feel?" She asked.

"I feel fine. Great, actually." Which was true. Jaune had never felt this… light before. He felt strong and energized, like Nora. To prove this, he hopped off of the bed and raised his arms as if to showcase himself. The nurse glanced at him critically before nodding. Aura can do great things it seemed.

"How long was I out?" Jaune asked the group. Yang shrugged nonchalantly.

"Oh about six weeks."

Jaune's eyes widened in surprise, and his heart nearly stopped in shock.

"WHAT?"

Blake elbowed Yang, causing her to burst out laughing.

"Yang was only joking. You were out for only about an hour or so." Ren replied. Jaune sighed in relief.

"Oh good. I was about to climb back onto the bed again because of cardiac arrest." Jaune punctuated the end of his sentence with a glare at Yang, who just waved it off.

"Oh come on, that was funny and you know it."

Now it was Jaune's turn to roll his eyes.

The group finally decided that the ice had been suitably shattered, and started to talk back and forth, something that allowed Jaune to relax a little more, taking his mind off of his dream.

As they were talking, the door to the infirmary creaked open.

"I hope I'm not interrupting anything." Ozpin gave a small smile as he walked in with Professor Goodwitch.

"Headmaster Ozpin!" Jaune straightened up on the bed.

"If you all don't mind, we'd like a word with Jaune." Goodwitch said quietly. The group nodded and filed out slowly while Ozpin settled down in one of the chairs, taking a sip out of his mug. Jaune was starting to feel a little nervous, wondering why the headmaster as well as his right hand was here. Ozpin leaned forward, setting down the mug on the bed stand and weaved his fingers together. Goodwitch just stood there, arms crossed as she looked at Jaune critically.

The silence felt stifling to Jaune, and he had half a mind just to make a terrible joke to break the tension.

"Mr. Arc," Ozpin started out slowly, as if he was still trying to figure something out. "Leader of Team JNPR, a Hunter-in-training, owner of Crocea Mors… and apparently, a dragon hunter as well." Jaune didn't say anything, not completely sure where Ozpin was going with this. Instead of Ozpin continuing however, Professor Goodwitch was the one who spoke up.

"Is there any reason why you could kill that dragon while nothing anyone else did could even dent it?" She asked.

"Well technically Nora was the one who killed it…" Jaune laughed weakly.

"Perhaps so." Ozpin cut in again. "But that doesn't explain how you blade," He nodded towards the weapon by Jaune's bedside, "Crocea Mors was able to cut through when anything from Dust rounds to grenades didn't affect it at all."

Jaune just gave a helpless shrug. "It's an old blade?"

"Yes, I'm sure if we just found some rusty old shovels we could do in one of the most dangerous Grimm in Remnant." Jaune winced at the statement, even though Ozpin said it with humor. Jaune spread his arms out.

"I don't know. My dad never really talked about Crocea Mors a lot. He usually talked about my ancestors and what they did with it… but… I don't know." Jaune finished lamely, rubbing his forearm.

"Well, maybe it wouldn't hurt to talk to your father about this would it?" Ozpin asked.

Jaune winced. "I'm… I don't… Do I have to?"

Ozpin's smile grew a little colder. "I insist."

While both parties were still being polite, Jaune could tell that the headmaster wouldn't take no for an answer. Jaune sunk a little deeper into his bed and sighed in resignation.

"Alright… I'll talk to him when I get the chance."

Ozpin leaned back, content with Jaune's answer. "Thank you Mr. Arc."

Standing up and gathering his mug, he made his way out of the infirmary with Goodwitch following behind him.

Well that was… something.

* * *

After a few more hours of tests to make sure that Jaune wasn't going to grow a third limb for some reason, the nurse signed off on his discharge, and Jaune was free and released back into the world again. Opening the door to Team JNPR's room, he was met with the usual antics of the team.

Nora was hanging off the ceiling, growling viciously at Ren, who was trying to coax her down.

"Come on Nora, I promise I won't take away your pancakes!" Nora just laughed maniacally. "That's what all villains say! Have at thee!" With those words Nora, who had a pancake between her teeth, flung herself at Ren and tackled him to the ground.

Pyrrha just turned to the next page of her textbook, letting Nora have her fun. Nora squealed excitedly as Ren groaned in pain. "Jauney!" She said, flinging herself at him. Jaune's eyes widened and he quickly stepped to the left, causing Nora to sail right by and slam into Team RWBY's door.

"Hey!" Weiss's muffled voice rang out. Jaune just yelled out a sorry before Nora zipped back into the room, settling next to the still prone Ren. Pyrrha made a few more notes in the margins of her book before closing it and turning to face the group.

"So Jaune, what happened back there?" She asked curiously. Pyrrha had a feeling that even Jaune had no idea, but she wanted to ask to make sure he wasn't holding anything back from her. Confirming her suspicions Jaune just shrugged.

"I don't know. I've never done that when fighting Grimm before. I'm not sure what caused all of that," Jaune pantomimed the lightshow that happened after he touched the dragon. "stuff to happen."

"Oh. Well. I'm sure we'll figure it out soon then." Pyrrha just gave a comforting smile that Jaune returned a little guiltily.

While Jaune wasn't a hundred percent sure why or how that happened, he did have some semblance of a who.

Or maybe it was a _what_.

An image of fierce eyes popped into his mind and he couldn't help but shudder a little.

"Are you sure you're alright Jaune?" Ren asked, noticing the discomfort Jaune just displayed. Jaune gave two thumbs up.

"Yeah, just a little tired. I think I'm going to go to bed a little earlier if you guys don't mind?"

Nora just saluted while Ren and Pyrrha murmured their yeses.

Hopefully this'll all blow over soon, Jaune thought desperately.

* * *

Jaune woke to nothing.

He opened his eyes to a black background, filled with nothing but tiny pinpricks of light.

 _Oh. I'm lying down._

Jaune pushed himself up and gasped. What he saw was nothing like anything he had ever witnessed before.

He was sitting on a large cliff attached to a mountainside, overlooking miles and miles of trees, streams, and lakes. The sky was twinkling above and—wait, were there two moons above him?

Jaune just stared in wonder, not sure what exactly he was seeing.

"Is this even Remnant anymore?" Jaune whispered.

"Ha. That would be the question, now wouldn't it, little one?"

Jaune yelped in surprise before scrambling onto his feet, turning to see a majestic creature standing before him.

A woman, covered in nothing but a thin cloth that weaved around her to form a dress, stood before him. She was pale, almost the same color as the moonlight, and her eyes were closed, although it felt as if she knew exactly where Jaune was. She had a soft smile adorned on her face and—dare he say it?—a blue glow surrounding her body.

"Who are you?" Jaune asked uncertainly. The woman continued to smile serenely.

"I am called many things by many people child. But you may call me Azura." She replied.

"It's nice to meet you… I think." Jaune said slowly. Azura's smile grew wider.

"And I, you, little one. It is nice to see younglings have a bit of respect."

Jaune laughed bashfully. "Well, my dad always drilled it into me to be a gentleman to women."

"He is a wise one." The woman said, nodding in agreement. Jaune took a deep breath now that he knew he wasn't going to be eaten alive or something along those lines.

"Um, Ms. Azura? I'd really like to know why I'm here."

Azura tilted her head a little to the left. "Yes. All you humans wonder that from time to time don't you?" Azura finally moved, walking closer and closer to Jaune. "But if you were wondering what you were doing here, in the lands of Nirn instead of your Remnant, then it would be because I summoned you here."

"You… summoned me?" Jaune asked uncertainly.

"Well, my sister did me a favor I suppose, but yes, in a way I was the one who brought you here." She replied lightly.

"Why?"

Azura nodded thoughtfully, and said nothing. She continued to say nothing long enough to make Jaune wonder if she had fallen asleep, and the nodding motion was just like, something she did when she was sleeping.

"I summoned you here because you are needed, Jaune Arc of Remnant." She finally started to speak, which was still a little trippy as her voice sounded a little echoey to Jaune. "It seems that there are dark forces at play on your planet, and monsters long forgotten are stirring. You," Azura nodded at Jaune, "are the one destined to stop them from destroying your world."

Jaune blinked.

What?

"I'm sorry ma'am, but it sounded to me as if you wanted me to stop… evil?... from destroying the world?" Jaune laughed in the haha-that-was-a-funny-joke-please-let-it-be-a-joke kind of way.

"That is correct."

But unsurprisingly, that was _not_ the case. Jaune just sighed. There wasn't much use fighting this.

"So what am I supposed to do?"

Azura's smile took on more of a happy edge, glad that her chosen champion was onboard with something like this so quickly.

"It is simple. You will find the source of this darkness and destroy it."

Silence rang out.

"That's… your plan?" Jaune asked.

 _Please don't be your plan, please don't be your plan._

"You catch on quick, my champion." Azura said warmly.

"You bet your dust-filled butt I do." Jaune muttered.

"Not to worry Jaune Arc of Remnant. You have all the tools we have given to you at your disposal."

We?

Tools?

Jaune's eyebrows drew together as he slowly put together the pieces.

"Crocea… Mors?" Azura nodded.

"On my world the sword is famous for banishing the darkness and ridding the world of evil. The people of Nirn call it Dawnbreaker." She waved her hand and an image a long straight blade appeared, with a glowing spherical hilt. Alongside it was a kite shield that seemed to have mirrors protruding out of it. Azura gestured to the shield.

"As a companion to Dawnbreaker is one of the most powerful shields known in existence, able to block pure energy itself. The people of Nirn call it Spellbreaker."

Jaune nodded in awe. The weapons looked amazing, and he grew hope that Crocea Mors was more than meets the eye. Another thought popped into Jaune's mind.

"Would… would me touching the Grimm be something too?" Jaune ventured to ask.

Azura's smile diminished somewhat. She gave a small sigh.

"Yes… That is to help you on your journey. It was not my idea, but you will have to make do with it. I believe on Remnant something like this would be called a 'Semblance'."

Jaune wanted to jump for joy. After so long, he finally unlocked his semblance. Now he could finally have something to work with during sparring, and he'd look totally awesome and cool and _all_ the ladies would—.

Wait.

Again Jaune's face scrunched up in confusion.

"What- what is my semblance?"

Azura's smile grew again.

"That, my child, is for you to find out." Jaune groaned. Why can't anything every be easy?

Azura turned her head towards the horizon behind Jaune.

"It seems we are running out of time to converse little one."

Jaune turned to see the sky lightening up, the stars slowly disappearing by the horizon, replaced with thin strips of light.

"Just another warning though Jaune." The use of his name, and just his name get Jaune to turn around.

Azura was frowning.

"Remember that while your semblance can be great in the hands of the right user, the temptation that it offers you is destructive. Embrace the power, but only reluctantly, lest you and everything you care about be destroyed."

And with that, dawn broke and Azura opened her eyes, light streaming out and blinding Jaune.

Well that was one way to end a conversation.


	3. Jaune and The Fighter

**A/N: Thanks again for the reviews and favs and follows, all are appreciated. :)**

 **For the people waiting for Jaune to shout well... you're welcome XD**

 **Even though I told myself that I wasn't going to do Omakes for no reason, I wanna thank Digitalemperor001 for the idea of Wabbajack and Jaune hijinks… So for anyone who wants to read that… it's at the bottom.**

 **Enjoy :)**

* * *

Professor Port's class has always been very difficult to concentrate on. In fact, even the most studious of students would have an easy time finding themselves doodling and texting on their scrolls instead of taking notes. It didn't help that the man seemed to lose sight of everything while talking about his endeavors, allowing for any student to basically do anything as long as it wasn't insanely disruptive.

It was in this class that Jaune was finally able to notice something very wrong with him. Professor Port's words seemed to be extra loud today, drilling into Jaune's ears and made it hard to daydream, but still wasn't interesting enough to pay attention to. The lights seemed a little sharper than usual, and Jaune couldn't help but blink more than he used to because of that. Jaune could still smell the faint scent of breakfast in the cafeteria, as Port's class was the closest to the dining hall. He wasn't sure what was happening, but it caused him to be increasingly distracted and made things very hard to focus.

It also didn't help that his subconscious seemed to be extra vicious today.

When Nora woke the team up with her usual antics, Jaune could hear the voice in the back of his mind wanting to tear Nora limb from limb, which was strange because usually Nora was the one who would say something like that aloud. When the cafeteria ran out of chicken nuggets, the voice demanded that he screamed at the serving lady and rip out her throat. Which was weird because Jaune usually never wanted to rip someone's throats out, even when they were out of chicken nuggets. It went on like this until he got to Professor Port's class, where the sheer boredom allowed Jaune to listen to his inner thoughts more carefully and realize in horror that the voice never really stopped talking.

 _Smash his brains out…_

 _Punch his face in…_

 _Rip that silly little mustache off…_

This, Jaune gathered, was what Azura probably meant she was warning him of his power. Which he still didn't figure out what it really did.

Does it absorb Grimm? How would you test that? Jaune wasn't sure he wanted to test that out dry…

Does it let Crocea Mors cut through super tough Grimm Wyverns? That seemed highly specific and not at all as practical as he would hope.

Or does it just let him dissolve Grimm quicker when he touched them. Knowing his luck, that would be exactly it.

Jaune just sighed quietly to himself and tried to ignore the voices in his head as Professor Port started to wrap up his lessons.

"And remember kiddos, if you decide to kill a King Taijitu after skinny dipping, make sure you're carrying enough straws and rubber bands and you'll have your very own captured prey! Ha ha!" Professor Port finished boisterously as the bell rung.

Everyone quickly packed up their bags and filed out of the room, heading to their next classes. Jaune and his team gathered together, slowly moving to practical combat class with Professor Goodwitch.

"Sometimes I wonder who would have more fantastic stories, Professor Port or Nora?" Ren joked, which got Nora to throw her arms into the air and yell her name. Pyrrha and Jaune laughed quietly.

"At least we know that Nora's stories aren't true. I mean, if the Professor's a teacher here, he must have some credibility right? However…" Pyrrha trailed off, unsure of how to phrase what she wants to say.

"It's hard to imagine Professor Port doing those kind of things to a pack of Beowulfs with a spoon and rubbing oil?" Jaune offered.

"Right." Pyrrha said, laughing as she recalled one of the more outlandish of Professor Port's stories.

"Well at least we'll know how to cut down a forest with two Ursai and a Giant Nevermore." Ren added in, happy to be part of the conversation.

"Psh, pu-lease, We wouldn't need any of those," Nora joined as well, popping in between Ren and Pyrrha. "I could probably knock down the forest all by myself." She said proudly.

"I'm not sure that's something you should be proud of." Jaune said dryly.

"Well I am." Nora huffed, crossing her arms and turning her head upwards. Jaune just shook his head, amused.

"Well that's all that matters then I guess."

Nora dove towards Jaune and gave him a bear hug comparable to Yang's.

"Nora let go of Jaune. I think he needs his strength today." Ren admonished.

"Aw, but Ren." Nora let go reluctantly. Jaune, gulping huge breaths, thanked Ren.

They arrived at the classroom with enough time to continue their conversation and settled down into some good seats to watch the upcoming fights.

"Hey guys!" Ruby waved them down to where Team RWBY was sitting. Jaune and the group waved back and headed over to them.

"So, who do you think are gonna fight today?" Ruby asked excitedly. Jaune shrugged. "As long as it isn't me, I don't really care." He said laughing. Yang punched him in the arm, causing him to wince in pain and rub the sore spot.

"Oh come on there, Dragon Slayer! Don't you wanna test your might against someone to see how big your balls-"

"Alright there Yang, I think he got it." Blake said with a hint of amusement. Yang just grinned, unabashed.

"Alright then, settle down." Professor Goodwitch finally made her appearance, walking into the classroom to stand next to the podium. She tapped the desk once, twice, to make sure that they were all listening. After the class finally quieted down, Goodwitch began to speak.

"In a few more weeks, we'll have the end of term practical exams. These will held to show how much you all have grown in the past semester, and I expect many good things to come out of it." Goodwitch swept her gaze across the room, lingering on Jaune just a second more than any of the other students. She slapped her riding crop across her hand lightly.

"So today, I will be testing your limits. I will be pairing up students who have never fought with each other in the past, and there may be some slight… differences in the level of strength. Rest assured, there will be appropriate handicaps put in place." The professor nodded, making sure that she checked everything off of her mini-lecture.

"For the people who have established their place in the class," Pyrrha, "I will be making them fight against multiple opponents of a higher caliber. Maybe I will even make them fight against a whole team." Again her gaze lingered, this time on Ruby. A brief silence filled the room as Professor Goodwitch finished her lecture.

Pulling out her scroll, she put up the first pairing.

"The first fight will be between Yang Xiao-Long and Jaune Arc. Please come up to the stage." Murmurs broke out amongst the students, surprised at the pairing. While Jaune was improving rapidly, no one really expected him to do much against someone who was considered the second best fighter in the first years.

Yang was just as surprised at the unexpected call as everyone else, but still very eager to take on Jaune. She had been pressuring for a spar with him for months now, and she was finally getting that chance gift-wrapped to her. She turned and gave a grin to Jaune, who looked a little pale at the announcement. He grinned shakily back and tried to force his stomach to stop performing acrobatics worthy of Blake.

They both went onto the stage, one much more confidently than the other, and stood on opposite sides. Goodwitch touched a few more buttons on her scroll and up popped the aura gauges of the two students. One big difference was that while Jaune's gauge was still the same as it always was, Yang's red bar seemed to cover half of her gauge, instead of the usual fifteen percent.

"As a handicap for Mr. Arc, he will only have to take down half of Ms. Xiao-Long's aura for a win, while Ms. Xiao-Long must fulfill standard conditions. Are there any questions?" Professor Goodwitch looked back and forth at the two fighters, making sure that no one—Jaune—had any last minute questions. Seeing no argument, she nodded.

"Then draw your weapons." A slide of steel on steel rang out as Jaune drew his weapon and decompressed his shield, holding the weapons in a standard defensive position. The mechanical clanking signaled Yang's bracelets unfolding into her gauntlets before she slammed her fists together and stood in a boxer's stance. "Remember to play fair and stop when I say so. While this is a fight, make sure you two don't try and kill each other." A nod from the two sides was all that was needed. Goodwitch stepped back off the stage.

"Begin."

With a roar not unlike an Ursa, Yang charged headfirst, cocking her fist back to blast Jaune. Acting on instinct, Jaune raised his shield to meet her fist before staggering back at the sheer force of the blow. Caught off balance, it wasn't long before Yang capitalized on this and struck again, knocking Jaune onto his butt. A quick scramble onto his feet and a glace showed that Jaune had already lost about a tenth of the bar.

Settling again into his stance, he watched Yang carefully. Blocking something that had the force of a Bullhead slamming into you was not a good idea. Bouncing a little on his toes, he prepared for the next attack.

Yang fell back a few feet and started to bounce as well, before raising her arms up close. With a quiet click of her gauntlets, Yang started to shadow box.

Well, that's what it would be if it wasn't for the fact that every time she punched out shotgun pellets would come at Jaune. Raising his shield up, he braced again for the shots to slam into his shield.

Seeing that Jaune was blinded, Yang ran forward, ready to repeat what happened only seconds ago.

Jaune's ears perked up a little. He could barely make it out over the gunfire, but he heard the slight scuff of Yang's boots as they left the ground. Acting on pure instinct, Jaune took one step back and rotated away from Yang. Without anything to punch, Yang was momentarily out of balance for the slightest of moments. This was all Jaune needed as he swung as hard as he could and clipped Yang across the stomach.

With a pained yelp, Yang fell back into a defensive stance. Surprised at the smooth maneuver, Yang's confidence diminished. Somewhat. A little.

Okay that was a lie.

With eyes glowing just a little red Yang charged again. Jaune, not even thinking at this point, did the exact same thing.

Unfortunately, in a fight with someone as experienced as Yang was, it's good to remember that the same trick won't work twice.

Prepared for it, Yang didn't even need to stop as she swung her and her shoulder past Jaune's guard and slammed into him, again knocking him almost a yard away. Jaune groaned in pain and looked at the meters again. While his attack had brought her down a bit, it wasn't really anything to talk about. On the other hand, Jaune had already lost almost a third of his aura in those insanely heavy hits.

 _Shame on her for hurting you…_

Jaune winced as the voice grew louder.

 _Kill her…_

 _Rip her throat out…_

 _Embrace it…_

Jaune stood unsteadily and adopted a lighter stance, hoping that a little more mobility would help his chances. Yang punched out a few pellets again, and Jaune angled his shield to deflect them, keeping his more dynamic stance intact. They circled around each other carefully, Yang trying to feel out Jaune's defense while Jaune was looking for a way to get closer to Yang without suffering the fury of her fists.

Jaune's eyes caught something he would have never seen before.

Yang's muscles all seemed to tense in one go as she prepared to rush Jaune. With only a tiny second to react Jaune did the first thing that came into his mind.

He lunged towards Yang, sword thrusting towards her ribs. Yang's eyes widened and she shifted her position, once again caught off guard and without a way to fall back into her own defense. By this time Yang was already too close to Jaune. Using both of their momentum, Jaune slammed his shield as hard as he could into Yang, and practically blasted her off her feet. Jaune glanced up at the gauges.

Yang was finally down a quarter of aura, which was half of what he needed. A quick spot of hope appeared underneath his collarbone.

Which was quickly squashed down as Yang punched Jaune so hard in the chest that for a moment, he found out what it was like to fly.

Another strangled groan rang out as he tried to gather up his thoughts, his body, his… well, his everything from that last attack. He was barely able to stand up before Yang was on him again, hitting him twice before grabbing him and throwing him to the other side of the room.

It didn't take another glance at the screens to know that he was probably already at his end.

Crap.

Crap.

Crap.

Of course I couldn't beat Yang, Jaune thought bitterly. It was stupid of him to hope.

While normally, this would spiral into a form of self-depression for Jaune, for some reason, today it made him mad.

Very mad.

 _Yes._

 _YES!_

 _Embrace the rage, the anger. You are better than this scum. Take what is rightfully yours and_ dominate _her._

Yes, Jaune thought. He picked himself up slowly. Along with this, the voice repeatedly spoke three words, over and over again in his mind.

 _That's right…_

 _Do it…_

 _SCREAM IT!_

Yang was still standing, ready to go another ten rounds. She was only growing stronger as the time went by, and she knew she had this one in the bag.

Instead of charging like she did the past few times, she leisurely walked closer to Jaune, ready to finish the match.

You know, Yang didn't say this much, but she was impressed by Jaune. He certainly improved quite a bit.

Jaune mumbled something and dropped his shield. Yang frowned at him, slightly concerned but still smug.

"What's that Jaune? I couldn't hear you over the trumpets of my about-to-be-win. Can you say that again?" Yang waited, wanting to hear Jaune's next words.

"Fus…" Yang tilted her head in confusion. Fus? What's a Fus? Jaune's head rose, and his eyes met her, filled with fury and defiance.

"Ro DAH!" Jaune screamed out, a shockwave blasting out of his vocal cords and picking up Yang, blasting her five, ten, twenty feet away until she slammed into the back wall, instantly knocked out.

The classroom fell into chaos as Jaune fell to his knees and closed his eyes, a sudden weariness covering him.

* * *

Omake: The Wabbajack and Me

"So what does this do again?"

Ren was sitting on the floor with his legs crossed, looking at a dark staff laid in front of him. Jaune was scratching the back of his head, trying to figure out how the staff showed up underneath his pillow like a gift wrapped present. The only thing that had gone with it was a note written in thick red ink.

 _Enjoy._

 _\- Uncle S._

"I have no clue." Jaune admitted, eyeing the staff cautiously. It was beautiful, in a creepy, frightening kind of way, with it being shaped into four sides carved with the visage of a sorrowful old man.

"Do you have an uncle that has a name that starts with an S?" Ren asked, trying to calmly go through with and not freak out that somehow, someone had snuck into a room with four highly trained warriors sleeping in it, not wake any of them up, and place a scary looking staff underneath one of their pillows.

Jaune frowned and thought about his large family.

"I mean… Sam? No he's a grumpy stick-in-the-mud. Sean? Hm. Not much of a sense of humor. Shay? Er, definitely not the sneaking kind. Searbhreathach? I don't really know him all that well… but probably not." Jaune finally gave up and just shook his head. "I mean I've got plenty of uncles that start with the letter S. But I don't think any one of them could have done this." Jaune gestured at the staff. Ren just crossed his arms.

"What do you think it does?" Ren asks. Jaune, being… well, Jaune, didn't really think the question through and decided to just pick the staff up.

"Well, let's find out!" Jaune felt a rush of electricity tingle up his arm and the staff started to vibrate, before the hole in the top of the staff glowed and flung towards Ren.

A flash enveloped Ren as he gave a panicked shriek. Jaune slowly opened his eyes and tried to let the dots fade away. Jaune's eyes widened at the sight. Oh… oh no.

"Please tell me it didn't horribly disfigure me." Ren groaned lowly.

"No." Jaune said slowly, trying to find words to say. "More like the complete opposite…"

"What do you mean…" Ren trailed off as his eyes glanced below. He gasped. Or should it be she gasped?

"Oh no no no no no." Ren murmured, slowly panicking. Jaune on the other hand was a little dumbstruck. His eyes went to the staff in his hand, which seemed to gleam in mischievous satisfaction. The staff… genderbent people?

"RENNY!" A voice echoed before Nora burst through the doors, Pyrrha trailing behind exhaustedly. There was a pause as Nora saw Ren. What was a good name for female Ren? Reni? Renissa? The world may never know.

Nora stood there in complete silence, which was enough to send Jaune into a panic as well. Nora was never quiet! Pyrrha stepped forward tentatively.

"What's going on—" She started to speak.

Jaune, in full adrenaline mode, popped up into a standing position and felt another tingle up his arm. _Oh no not again_.

A flash of light, this time enveloping the whole room, blinded the four of them.

When Jaune opened his eyes again, he nearly died of blood loss.

The three girls were suddenly, inexplicably, naked.

As Pyrrha and Ren screamed and Jaune fainted, a Daedric Prince was rolling on the ground laughing his head off.

He knew that this was going to be a idea.

* * *

 **A/N: Hahaha, gods this actually is such a great thing to do… There's so many ideas that can come off of Jaune having the Wabbajack. If any of you want me to continue with the Wabbajack adventures, tell me! I may do it even if everyone doesn't want me to anyway!**

 **XD**


	4. A Dragon and His Boy

**A/N: Yaaay the fourth chapter's here! Ain't that great? 'Nyways, For some reason the FFnet review system's a little weird and I can't reply to y'all, and the reivews don't show up on the story... I'm sure they'll fix that sooner or later.**

 **For the time being, just review, and please be patient while they fix it. I'll reply to y'all the moment it does.**

 **Enough of that, Onwards!**

* * *

What am I doing here?

Jaune took a look around at his surroundings. He could hear a steady dripping of water somewhere far off to his left. In front of him was a huge curved wall, covered with strange inscriptions and detailed with what looked like a dragon's skull on top. Three of the scratch-like inscriptions were glowing a faint blue. Jaune took a step forward in curiosity.

"Quite beautiful, is it not?" A raspy growl rumbled the floor underneath Jaune. With a startled shriek he turned around, grasping at Crocea Mors before realizing that he didn't have it on him.

A… well.. What looked like a Grimm dragon was standing in front of Jaune. Except is wasn't. This one had… well, it had color. Its black hide was dusted with a coppery sheen, scars lining his right wing. Its eyes, while small, held what felt like a deluge of emotions that almost seemed to drown Jaune. Jaune gulped. There was no way this was a Grimm. Grimm didn't show emotions and thought. This being was… more.

It was majestic.

"While I may be immortal, I do not tend to enjoy wasting time." It grumbled again. This snapped Jaune out of his trance.

"What… are you?" He asked carefully. The more-than-Grimm looked down at Jaune, as if examining to see if Jaune was worthy of an answer.

"I am, in your tongue, a dragon." It replied.

"Well that's ni-" Jaune started to speak before a growl like a chainsaw ripped through the cave and the dragon's head was suddenly right next to Jaune, its eyes leveled with his. Jaune froze like an Ursa in front of a charging Yang. The proximity between the two of them allowed for Jaune to see clearly what emotion the dragon had in its eyes.

Rage.

Unbridled rage that almost seemed to burn Jaune up.

"Dragon I may be called, but I am more than that." The dragon's voice dripped with disdain at the words. He rose again, his head high above Jaune and his posture filled with pride.

"I am a dovah. The greatest of hunters and the most feared being in all of the worlds."

"So how'd you get hurt then?" Jaune gestured to the scars.

No!

Bad Jaune, bad! Keep your mouth shut you idiot, before that thing eats you!

The dragon's eyes narrowed and what followed could only be described as slithering with legs. The dragon—the dovah—slowly crept up towards Jaune until once again their faces were only inches apart. Jaune could feel it's hot breath across his face as it spoke.

"Trickery," It hissed out, "The only way you sahlojul… you weak humans can come to harm us." It huffed a breath, causing Jaune to recoil a step backwards.

"Very few will dare take a dovah head on."

A silence stretched out between the two of them before Jaune took the courage to speak again.

"So why am I here?" Jaune asked.

The dovah raised its head high and opened its jaws, making this crackling sound that caused Jaune to wince. It took a minute for him to realize that it was laughing.

"Why are you here? No Maldovah, that is not the question you should ask. You are here because this is your mind, your body." A brief pause. "Your soul."

Jaune took a deep breath. Okay. So that wasn't the question he needed to ask. What would that be?

"Are you… like the Grimm?"

This time there was no laughter.

"Like the Grimm?" The dragon's voice was quiet. "Like those scum who cannot express anything other than a facet of emotion? You think that I am like them? So dead and without care? You think I am without passion?" By the end of it, the dragon was roaring, the whole cave shaking, dust and pebbles raining from the ceiling. Jaune was quick to deny this.

"No! No! That wasn't what I was implying at all!" Jaune said hurriedly. "It's just you look so much like the a Grimm that I just fought so…"

Jaune laughed weakly.

"Ah." The dragon calmed down enough to converse without creating seismic waves. Jaune wasn't sure what would happen if the cave collapsed on him. Well, he knew exactly what would happen. He'd be squished flatter than a pancake. Seeing as how he still wasn't sure if he was dreaming or not, he wanted to not find out the messy way.

"Yes, those… beings. They are not dovah. But to be so similar… they have a spark. They are nivazah… not true dragons."

"How do they have the spark?" Jaune asked, trying to follow the direction of the conversation.

"The Aedra and their little toys." If a dragon could sound disgusted, this one did. "They bring upon the world horrors and sorrows."

"However, that is not the question you need to ask." The dragon again focused on Jaune.

At this point Jaune was shaking. What would happen if he kept asking the wrong questions? Would he just get eaten at this point?

Jaune prayed to dust that there wasn't some kind of three strike rule against him at this point.

"Why are… you here?" He asked.

The dragon folded itself back, seemingly satisfied with this answer.

"Finally."

Jaune couldn't be any more relieved.

"The answer is simple… yet complicated. I was sent into this world by one of the Aedra's most coveted weapons. Scrolls that contain information that create chaos where there is order. I was sent into you."

Jaune blinked.

"What?"

The dragon just dipped its head. Which helped almost not at all.

"What do you mean into me?" Jaune asked.

"I mean, I am a part of you now. Trapped inside your essence, there is no way to free me from you except in your death. But even I do not know what will happen then. I may be immortal, but I do not know how that will carry over after your demise."

Oh. Okay. That makes sense.

Oh wait. No it doesn't.

"I… what?" Jaune wasn't even sure what to ask at this point. Again the dragon dipped its head. Jaune would have punched it if he wasn't sure that it would probably roast him to death.

"Why come out now? Why not months ago? Years ago?" Jaune started to demand, a little frustrated at his lack of understanding.

"Your soul was locked away until your servant unlocked it for you." Servant, what?

"Wait you mean Pyrrha?" Jaune asked.

"Yes. Your first servant." It replied.

"Wait, wait, wait. I don't have any servants." Jaune defended. The dragon tilted its head to the side.

"Of course you do Maldovah. All those Jul that surround you. Are they not under your thrall?"

"What? Thrall? No! Of course not! They're my friends!" The dragon stayed confused.

"They seem to answer to your call and obey your commands."

"That's because I'm team leader and you know, sometimes I ask them nicely!"

The dragon gave up at this point. "Very well." Jaune just wanted to go home at this point.

"This week couldn't get any weirder." Jaune mumbled.

"On the contrary Maldovah. I am here to warn you of troubling times. Something dark is coming, and unless you want you and all your servants to perish, you must fight."

Jaune ignored the servant talk for a second. Azura had said the same thing.

"How?" Jaune asked cautiously, remembering Azura's words for caution for dealing with the one inside of him. Although he wasn't exactly sure why. Sure it was a little disorienting speaking to the dragon, and it was pretty proud. But there wasn't really anything to be careful about is there?

"By killing everything that stands in your way. Tearing them from limb to limb and making them bow in fear. Show your dominance and you will prevail."

Oh. That's why.

"Er. Yeah, I don't think that's going to happen." Jaune said, scratching the back of his neck. The dragon puffed out an amused breath.

"It doesn't matter whether or not you believe it so. You have the blood of a dovah now. You will show your power when it is needed."

The cave rumbled and a loud crack sounded out above Jaune. Looking up, he could see fissures forming overhead. The dragon saw them as well.

"There is no more time for us to talk Maldovah. It is time for you to be sent back." Rocks began to rain down steadily. "Remember, obey your instincts, and listen to my voice. Practice your dragon toungue and master it, as it will one day save your life."

"Wait!" Jaune started to panic a bit. The rocks that were landing on him actually felt real, and he wasn't sure what would happen if he took a blow to the head.

"Wait! I never got your name! And how do I practice dragon toungue? I don't know anything about that!"

The dragon chuckled and withdrew itself.

"My name is Vedrahgol, Maldovah. And what do you mean you don't know dragon tongue? What do you think we have been speaking this whole entire time?"

Jaune didn't get another word in edge wise, as the edge of a sharp rock the size of his head landed on his skull.

* * *

"Not the face!" Jaune screamed, jolting out of the dream world and off of the bed with a thump.

"Jaune!" Pyrrha rushed over to make sure he was okay. Jaune lay on the ground, groaning in pain.

"I'm alright, I'm alright." Jaune waved away Pyrrha's hands. Pyrrha's hands stayed where they were for a second before she withdrew reluctantly.

"What happened Jaune?" She asked. Jaune hesitated. He wasn't sure if he actually wanted to talk about what's been happening to him for the past few days. How could he explain to her all this talk about talking dragons and floating women? No, Pyrrha already worried about him enough for the two of them, there wasn't a need to make her worry even more.

"Just another bad dream. You know how those are." Jaune lied with a tight smile on his face. Pyrrha looked as if she wanted to call him out for lying, but decided to let it slide, more worried about his physical health. She lent him an arm so that he could get back on the bed.

It didn't take much longer for him to notice that he wasn't in their room. It was kind of obvious, what with the monitors and cold white floor.

But never let it be said that Jaune was an observant guy.

"Why am I in the hospital?" He asked.

"You don't remember?"

Jaune frowned as he tried to remember the last thing that he did. He remembered… pain. Lots of pain.

He was fighting Yang. He was… he was losing. He got angry and he said…

What did he say?

Jaune put his right hand on his head as he tried to remember. Three words… if they could be called words. He remembered what happened when the shouted those words.

Yang.

Yang!

"Is Yang alright?" Jaune asked, a little ashamed that she wasn't the first thing he asked about. She was flung into the wall like a glass cup in a tornado.

Oh Dust.

Was that his semblance? Oh Dust be damned.

He could shoot tornados out of his mouth!

Wait. That couldn't be it. Could it? But if it was… what did that have to do with dragons and their language? Jaune remembered the Grimm Wyvern he fought spitting fire and ice. If he thought hard enough about it, maybe he remembered hearing it shout words?

Maybe if he shouted the right words, things would happen?

"Jaune!"

Jaune snapped out of his thoughts. "Yes I'm awake!" Tch. Instinctual response. Pyrrha cocked her head to the side.

"I know. But I was wondering if you were listening at all."

Jaune chuckled, a little ashamed. He felt bad, seeing as how he was the one who was asking in the first place.

"Sorry about that Pyr. I went a little Nora on you. Could you repeat that for me?"

"Certainly." Pyrrha smiled warmly, not at all bothered by Jaune spacing out. "Yang is fine. She actually wasn't hurt all that much except for a few bruised ribs and her Aura being almost completely gone."

Jaune winced. That was one strong semblance, to be able to wipe out such an aura from seventy-five percent to almost zero in an instant.

"On the other hand, she did wake up before you did, and was a little angry. I think she said something about wanting a rematch because you 'got a drop on her'."

Jaune just shook his head in amusement.

"Nope. One fight with Yang is good enough for me for the next ten years. Besides," Jaune rubbed his throat, feeling a slight soreness that was already fading away. "I don't think I'll be able to pull that off again anytime soon."

"Why not?" Pyrrha asked suddenly. This caught Jaune off guard.

"Huh?"

"Why won't you be able to pull it off again? It is because you can't?" Pyrrha rested her hand on Jaune's forearm. "Or because you won't?"

Normally Jaune was fine with Pyrrha being concerned about him. But now he couldn't stop feeling the slightest bit annoyed at how much she was mothering him.

"It really doesn't matter which one it is alright? I shouldn't be using it without testing it out first. Or I might end up hurting myself. Or worse, hurting someone else." Pyrrha recoiled a bit at Jaune's tense tone before crossing her arms underneath her chest.

"Sorry." She said softly.

Great. Now Jaune felt guilty. Tense anger exit left, enter horrible self-guilt.

"No, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have talked to you like that."

Pyrrha shook her head, already halfway there to reassuring Jaune. "It's not your fault Jaune. You were just knocked out by your… semblance, and it would make sense to keep your precautions with it."

Jaune just sighed. One step forward, two steps back with Pyrrha. If Jaune had anything resembling a backbone, he would probably be a little annoyed at how Pyrrha kept trying to deflect the blame off of him. But typical of Jaune, he just smiled softly and thanked her.

They talked a little longer with each other before the nurse came in and told them that Jaune was free to leave. Helping him out of bed, Pyrrha led him back to their room.

"So what are you going to do about your semblance Jaune?" Curiosity took over and she couldn't help but ask. Jaune thought for a second.

"I think I'll need to do some… research." Jaune said the last word a little bitterly, knowing that it meant a lot of reading and time in the library. "And maybe I'll need to practice my semblance as well? I mean practically." Pyrrha nodded in agreement. Sparring was a much more efficient way of practicing the use of semblances.

"Well maybe once every few days we can do that instead of our usual lessons?" Pyrrha offered timidly.

"No, no, I still need all the practice that I can get from you." Jaune shook his head. "I'll find someone else to help me, I'd rather not take all of your time up." Jaune said jokingly.

But what if I want to spend time with you? Alone? Pyrrha wanted so bad to say that, but she decided to keep her mouth shut instead.

"That sounds grand." Pyrrha said weakly, trying to give an enthusiastic smile. Jaune shot a smile back at her.

"Oh Jauney~" Yang's voice floated towards them as they reached their room. Jaune froze, trying to figure out a way to run before Yang could do anything to him.

It didn't really work, seeing as how a quick tumble later forced Jaune into Team RWBY's room.

"AHHH!" Jaune screamed in terror, banging on the door which Yang smoothly locked with her scroll. "REN! PYRRHA! NOR- GUYS HELP ME!"

"You do realize the rooms are soundproof right?" Blake said in amusement. Jaune deflated. Oh. Crap. He turned to Yang, who had a wide smile and cracking her knuckles in preparation to beat the living crap out of him.

Jaune was on his knees. "Please don't kill me." He pleaded. "I don't want to die a virgin! And I still haven't finished my X-Ray and Vav comic book collection yet."

"One of those things might explain the other." Weiss said under her breath.

Yang rolled her eyes. "Relax Vomit Boy, I'm not going to kill you."

"You're not?" Jaune asked, confused. Yang lifted a eyebrow.

"Do you want me to?"

Jaune quickly shook her head.

"Then I won't." Cue sigh of relief. "But I do want a rematch." Cue heart attack. "But that's not why you're here." Cue confused look.

"What was that Jaune?" Ruby asked. "How did you knock out Yang? Was that like, a super secret move that you've been saving up for her or something?"

Jaune rubbed the back of his neck. "Not… exactly."

"Then what was it?" Yang demanded, curious as to what Jaune would have that would be able to beat her. Her! The only person that should be able to beat Yang was Pyrrha, and that was because she cheats.

Jaune looked back and forth at the four girls, finding that none of them were going to bail them out. Every one of them were too curious. This was the first time Jaune used something other than his sword and shield and the suspense was too much for them to just put aside. Jaune sighed in resignation.

"Apparently that was my semblance." He said. "Which I only found out about a few seconds after I used it." Jaune laughed sheepishly as the four girls showed their individual signs of exasperation for Jaune.

"So your semblance shoots tornadoes out of your mouth?" Ruby asked incredulously. The other three also expressed their disbelief. Sheesh, it wasn't like the semblance was super crazy or anything.

"Are you guys really that confused about it? I mean, it's not like my semblance is the weirdest in the world. Heck, it's not even the weirdest one on our two teams!" Jaune defended.

"Well…" Weiss looked a little uncertain, and glanced towards Blake.

"It _is_ a pretty normal semblance compared to the other ones out there." Weiss admitted. "But… it's not really you."

Huh?

"What do you mean?" Jaune asked, confused and a little offended.

"She didn't mean it like that Jaune," Blake said quickly, seeing the hurt in his eyes. "What she means is that semblances… well, they tend to portray and accentuate the person. Your semblance and your personality usually kind of match or at least complement each other, right?"

Jaune nodded thoughtfully. Now that he thought about it, Blake was right. Everyone he knew had semblances that seemed to practically be an extension of their personalities. So how did this… dragon spell match Jaune?

Research. He needed to figure this stuff out.

Answering Team RWBY, Jaune just shrugged. "Who knows? Maybe I'm the exception to the rule," Jaune joked, "What I do know is that I need time to study and practice with my semblance." Suddenly Jaune's movements became more meek as he lowered his gaze to the ground and started to fidget with his limbs.

"I was wondering if Weiss and Blake would help me with this?"

Weiss and Blake's eyes widened in surprised as they glanced at each other and back towards Jaune.

"Me?" Weiss said while Blake just raised an eyebrow in question.

At this point Jaune was beyond nervous and still wasn't able to look at both of them in the eyes.

"Well yeah. Blake, you're really good with books and stuff. I was hoping that you and I could find some books about my semblance to help me understand it better? And Weiss, you're really good with fighting with your semblance and I was hoping that you could help me on that side of things."

Yang frowned.

"What about me?" She asked, a little annoyed that Jaune hadn't asked her. "I can fight pretty well too." Ruby perked up. "Yeah, me too! Why aren't you asking me?" Ruby gave a pout that put Jaune into a bit of a panic.

Don't look into the Siren's gaze! Don't do it!

Averting his eyes before Ruby was able to dial up the pout, Jaune tried to calm the two sisters down.

"Ha ha, you're so right! But I mean Weiss has the most similar fighting style to me out of the three of you. I mean, it's still crazy different from mine," Jaune admitted, "but at least she uses a sword… and maybe if I can master my semblance, I can learn a thing or two from her."

Weiss's cheeks reddened a little at the unexpected praise and crossed her arms. "Well, if you're so insistent, I guess I can't refuse."

Blake didn't have as many reservations. After all, the only thing she had to do was find some books for Jaune, and helping a friend wasn't something that she really minded. Blake just nodded at Jaune, which was enough for Jaune to break out into a relieved grin.

"Thanks guys. I owe you one."

* * *

 **A/N: So there you have it, more interactions with people. Plot still standing still until Jaune figures more things about his 'semblance'. Tell you the truth, plot's coming in about two or more chapters. :)**

 **On that hand, onto the next Omake!**

* * *

Team RWBY was getting a little concerned. For the past half hour or so they heard yelling and screaming in the room across from them before the Team JNPR's room opened and a figure fled out.

The four of them popped their heads out to see Nora holding a staff and laughing maniacally before Pyrrha and Jaune chased after her. Another girl walked out as well with watery eyes and a t-shirt that didn't really seem to fit her. With her pink eyes and the single strand of hair highlighted pink, she looked a lot like Ren.

"Excuse me.. miss?" Weiss asked politely. "What just happened here?"

The girl turned and tears threatened to spill out of her eyes. "It seems… Jaune received a weapon that creates a bit of a mess when used." She said slowly. "Like… turning someone into another gender."

A second passed before they put the pieces together.

"Ren?!" The four of them yelled in shock. She nodded sadly and was about to continue to say something before a loud roar echoed through the halls.

They turned to see Pyrrha and Jaune run back towards them, expressions frantic as Nora appeared on top of an enormous crab, screaming at the top of her lungs.

"Muhahaha! I'm the Queen of the Castle, I'm the Queen of the Castle~" Nora sang as she rode into glory.

Team RWBY could only stare in shock as Nora swung around on the crab. Nora, spotting the four girls, gained a devious light in her eyes and pointed Wabbajack towards them.

A bright light flashed and chaos ensued.

Weiss and Blake had changed clothing, Weiss suddenly sporting a fluffy tail while Blake's cat ears disappeared along with her bow. Yang seemed to shrink a few feet a lose a few sizes, if you got my meaning, and looked as young as Ruby did.

Ruby on the other hand, was screaming her head off as she clung onto the back of the crab.

Nora continued to giggle as she chased down Jaune and Pyrrha.

Sheogorath kept a close eye on the events, along with a man wearing a horned helm, both dying of laughter.


	5. A Boy and His Father

**A/N: So, I actually have something that's important to say (for once)**

 **Next week I'll be out on a trip starting from this Saturday to next Thursday. I will be away from my precious little computer, so, no chapters during that time. IK. Sad face. :(**

 **In a way, I'll try and make up for this. On _this_ Saturday, I will _not_ be uploading another chapter of Genderbent, instead uploading chapter six for this story. AAA _should_ be on the same schedule, but may be postponed until Friday. But, yeah, that's really it. **

**:D**

 **'Nyways, Onwards!**

* * *

Jaune jumped when a pile of books slammed onto the table in front of him. Glancing up from his book, he saw Blake smiling softly.

"Here's a few books that talk about Dragon-class Grimm." She said, sitting down next to Jaune. "I don't understand though. How's this going to relate to your semblance?"

Well because I have a dragon inside of me and it seems to be the thing that makes me shoot tornadoes out of the mouth. Hm. No, Jaune wasn't sure if that was going to be a convincing argument or not.

Shrugging, Jaune grabbed the topmost book from the stack and opened it up, looking at the pictures of the various Grimm. "I'm hoping that there's something different about the Dragon-class Grimm that lets me do that shiny-light thing." Blake couldn't really fault that logic, no matter the phrasing, and opened up another encyclopedia of Grimm.

Time went by in silence as Jaune and Blake looked for any clues as to how Dragon-class Grimm worked, and how it related to Jaune's semblance.

After Jaune closed the third book and put it away, he sighed, trying not to fall asleep. All the books just talked about the physiology and attack patterns of each dragon, which didn't seem to help Jaune much at all. Why couldn't there just be a page that talks about their powers relating to Jaune?

Dust, these authors had no idea how to target an audience.

A pair of bracelet clasped hands entered his view. "How's the research going, lover boy?" Yang said, shooting a grin. Jaune returned the grin tiredly.

"Terribly. I can't seem to find anything right now." He replied. Yang crossed her arms under her chest and leaned onto the table.

"Psh, that's why I don't read books for research. If you wanna find out more about your semblance, you should go do another spar. Namely, with me." Yang finished by gesturing grandly at herself, puffing her chest out proudly. Jaune, trying his best not to let his eyes linger, rolled them and stood up.

"Maybe you're right." He said finally. "I think we're done for today Blake. Thanks a lot for helping me out here." Blake just smiled and stood up as well, internally feeling just as tired as Jaune was. "No problem Jaune. Friends help friends." Jaune returned her smile. Turning back to Yang, Jaune spoke.

"Well, I guess it's time to try out the physical side of things."

Yang started to bounce up and down ecstatically, prepping herself for the fight.

"I going to call Weiss and let her know that I'm ready." Jaune said before expanding his scroll out. He walked towards the library doors, only to be stopped by a pair of hands that spun him around to face a rather livid Yang. Jaune blinked.

"What?" He asked, his face perfectly innocent. Yang had half a mind to start the fight now and just sucker punch Jaune in the face. Yang took a deep breath to try and calm herself down.

"I meant… spar with me." She said slowly. Jaune tilted his head a little and put a finger on his lip in thought.

"Hm. I'm pretty sure I've already explained this already…" Jaune said thoughtfully.

"Oh, come on Jaune! I promise I'll go easy on you." Yang said, half begging. Jaune shot a dry look at Yang.

"I don't think you know the definition of holding back, Yang."

Yang decided to just pout, and turn away in denial.

Jaune gently laid his hands on hers and pulled them away. "Look, you're still recovering from the last fight that we had, and I'm not sure what would happen if we went at it again. At least with Weiss, she doesn't have to rely on getting close, which means that if I do… tornado blast her she can respond." Yang just pursed her lips, annoyed at how logical Jaune was being.

"And besides, I'd rather not screw up, not be able to use my semblance and end up being a smear on the ground." Jaune said sardonically. Yang's lips twitched into a smile.

"Well, so long as you know." Yang said, emulating Weiss as she rose her head haughtily high. Jaune just laughed and let go of Yang's hands, something that had completely slipped away from her notice.

"Well, I'll see you during dinnertime." Jaune said, turning away and heading out the door. Yang just stared at the empty doorway.

"Yeah." Yang muttered, rubbing her arm. "See you."

* * *

No one in Beacon would say that Jaune was an exceptional fighter. On the other hand, a year of intense training from the Mistral Champion herself, as well as a smattering of lessons with his other friends, had really buffed him out. Nowadays even Cardin would reluctantly admit that Jaune could hold his own against most of the student body. However, Weiss had trained for years in fencing and practiced the use of her semblance since she was a child.

It would be a long time before Jaune could beat Weiss in a straight up fight.

So instead, Jaune opted to try a battle of attrition. Relying on his stellar defense and large aura stores, Jaune played the immovable shield to Weiss's tactical offense. Weiss had quickly caught on to his intentions and had backed away, holding in a defensive position.

Several minutes had passed before Weiss lowered Myrtenaster.

"Jaune." She said.

"Hm?" Jaune kept his guard up and sword ready, focused on the still form of Weiss.

"While your defense is acceptable and you have the appropriate tactics to fight me, this isn't what we're here for." Weiss said sternly.

Jaune winced at her words and lowered his shield, pointing his sword to the ground.

"I know." He said. Weiss's eyebrow raised an inch as the undertone of frustration made itself evident in his voice. "I know this is for my semblance but," Jaune sighed and collapsed his sheath, stowing away his sword in one smooth motion. "I honestly have no idea how to use it." He finally admitted, sweeping his sweaty bangs away from his eyes.

"You don't?" Weiss asked before putting her rapier away as well. "You don't even have an idea of how to?"

Jaune shrugged helplessly. "I mean, the only time I did it was with Yang, and I had this—this voice and it kept saying… something…" Jaune trailed off. What was Vedrahgol telling him?

Weiss finally grew impatient at watching Jaune muttering nonsensical things about 'tearing them limb from limb' and 'what the hell is a maldovah'. Quickly drawing Myrtenaster, Weiss formed a glyph below her feet and flew towards Jaune. If Jaune wasn't sure how to use his semblance, Weiss would force his body to use it.

Or die.

Well, probably not die, but hopefully it would spark some kind of instinctual use of his semblance.

Jaune barely had any time to draw Crocea Mors out of the sheath before being assaulted with slashes, stabs, and lunges. Weiss kept the pressure on, and Jaune was forced to parry and dodge, knowing that if he made any movement to bring out his shield Weiss would impale him.

Weiss was entirely too fast for Jaune though. While his eyes did see openings, his body couldn't react fast enough to take the advantage.

What was entirely surprising for the both of them was how long Jaune was lasting however. Even though Jaune had improved immensely, his reaction time was still being trained and he normally would have lost a good chunk of aura from mistakes and being just a little too slow.

But now Jaune was able to dodge almost every stroke of her blade, and parry any that he couldn't. Weiss was astounded. While he still wasn't fast enough to do anything besides keep himself uninjured, it was still something of a miracle to see.

Weiss knew that she was tiring. Swinging Mrytenaster around in varying dynamic patterns was costing her a lot of stamina. Any longer and Jaune would have the upper hand.

Weiss bit out a curse as she swung a little too wide with the rapier and hoped Jaune wouldn't catch it. But whatever miracle was aiding Jaune with his speed let him see the opening, and Jaune flicked his sword to strike her waist. With a bit of quick thinking, Weiss formed another glyph and sped away from the blade.

Now's the chance, Jaune thought, as he drew in a breath. Weiss prepared herself, forming several glyphs around her in preparation to defend and evade as Jaune unleashed his terrifying semblance.

"FOAM'S OKRA!" Jaune yelled at the top of his lungs.

Weiss took a step to the side and… stumbled at the ridiculous phrase, accidentally putting too much pressure on the glyph and letting it overturn her, causing her to backflip once and crash into the ground.

Jaune hurried over to Weiss in concern. "Oh dust, are you alright Weiss?" Weiss didn't bother replying as she struggled back onto her feet.

"What," She hissed lowly. "was _that_?" Jaune flushed in embarrassment.

"I-I couldn't remember what the words were exactly." He muttered, trying to wipe away that event. Weiss shot him a deadpan glare.

"So you thought… foam's okra was the appropriate thing to… shout?" She asked. Jaune just cringed.

A giggle floated through the arena during this time, causing Jaune and Weiss to turn to the stands, watching Yang trying not to burst out laughing.

"Foam's okra." Yang snorted in amusement as Jaune slowly grew redder and redder. Weiss primly brushed off the dust on her skirt and sheathed Myrtenaster, tilting her nose upwards to the ceiling.

"I think you need a lot more practice there Jaune." Yang grinned as Weiss walked over to grab a bottle of water that Yang held in her hand. Jaune followed suit and tried to take the other bottle in Yang's right hand. Yang pulled it back, Jaune missing the bottle by a few inches. Yang continued to tease Jaune as she spoke up.

"You know, I don't think that's what you said when you blew me away." Yang said, winking as she raised the bottle again away from Jaune, who was blushing at the double entendre.

"Yeah?" Jaune grunted as his fingers glanced the plastic of the bottle. "And what did I say?"

Yang tapped the bottle on her chin, finally allowing Jaune to snatch it out of her hands. With a pout, she replied, "I don't remember exactly, but it ended with something like 'ro dah', or whatever."

"Oh!" Jaune snapped his fingers as the array of words finally appeared in his mind. "I remember now! It was Fus Ro Dah—"

* * *

"I hate your semblance." Yang grumbled, holding an ice pack on her head. Jaune moaned in agreement. Weiss on the other hand, nursing a twisted ankle, simply decided to chuck her ice pack at Yang, hitting her on the shoulder. They were all sitting in Team RWBY's room after getting a dressing down by Professor Goodwitch for tearing up another arena. Something about how 'they weren't the only ones in the school'.

Even if it felt like it sometimes.

Jaune's scroll rang once, twice, before he moved to pick it up. Checking the ID, Jaune's face paled a little. Standing up, Jaune laughed a little nervously.

"Well, that was fun Weiss, Hot-head," Jaune said, nodding to Yang. "Hey!" Yang pouted. "But I gotta go take this."

"Who is it? Some secret lover on the side?" Yang teased, hoping to get Jaune back. Instead of blushing and denying it however, Jaune just gave a wan smile.

"Not really. It's my dad." He said before exiting the room. Yang's eyes trailed after Jaune as he left.

"Methinks the lad hath some tension with the father." Yang said blithely. Weiss just grabbed her ice pack once again and tossed it towards Yang's head.

* * *

"Hello Jaune. How are you?" A low voice carried out of the scroll. Jaune forced a smile.

"Not much Dad. How about you?" Jaune replied, happy to make small talk if it meant not having to dive into any deeper issues. Of course, Jaune's father never really was going to let that happen.

"Well, being the only male in a family of ten actually at home during a time where everyone seems to be on the time of the month at the exact same time… I could be better." Jaune's father replied lightly. Jaune knew the undertones of the conversation though.

 _Why aren't you home?_

"Well you're going to have to keep it that way for a while," Jaune gave a fake chuckle. "I'm just finally starting to learn so much!"

 _There's nothing for me at home._

"Aw come on, I'm sure your sisters miss you so much!"

 _So your sisters don't mean anything?_

"Well then I'll be sure to visit them over the break." At this point Jaune was snapping a little too harshly.

 _Except for them._

"Like you'll actually come home." Jaune's father spat out angrily. There weren't any undertones to that statement. Jaune decided to keep silent, unless he wanted it to become a screaming match between him and his father. His dad sighed.

"Did you need something Jaune?" He asked tiredly. Jaune winced at the tone of voice even more than that previous tone of anger. Jaune didn't hate his dad. Bitter, yes. Bitter that he refused to teach Jaune anything, bitter that while his dad was out there risking his life and potentially leaving him and his sisters fatherless, that he wouldn't let Jaune pick up the load.

Bitter that his dad hadn't believed in him.

Jaune calmed himself with a drawn out breath.

"So my semblance unlocked." Jaune's dad gave a noncommittal grunt in acknowledgement. Oh no, that's amazing son, I'd love to hear more about it. Jaune pushed the thought away. His dad was never one for congratulations. At least not with Jaune. He continued speaking.

"And apparently I can dissolve dragons with my hands and shoot tornadoes out of my mouth and I've been contacted by beings that aren't from Remnant." Every word in that sentence rose in anger until the ending sounded more like an accusation than a statement.

Stunned silence went over the scroll as Jaune's father tried to process all of this. Jaune could see his face changing from one emotion to the other in rapid succession. Guilt, Anger, Denial.

Fear.

"Jaune…" The patriarch of the Arc family was almost whispering. He knew that this would happen. He knew never wished Jaune to face this. "…I'm sorry." He whispered.

Jaune just rolled his eyes. "Really? About what? Neglecting me? Refusing to teach me how to defend myself? Being the best father I could ask for—until I turned eleven, and then it seemed like you never had time for me?" Jaune almost demanded for his dad to apologize for every little thing that happened to him, even if his dad wasn't to blame. Well, not a hundred percent anyways.

Jaune's dad looked away from the scroll.

"For all of it, son." A brief pause as Jaune's dad tried to gather his thoughts. "Seven years back, I had a dream of this... abomination. A Grimm-black sun that had tentacles spewing out of it was facing me. It spoke to me." His face twisted in pain as he remembered the visions of blood and screams. "It showed me… death. It showed me violence and pain. And you were in the center of it."

Jaune's heart stopped.

"That's why I tried to separate you from all this, Jaune." His dad continued. "I hoped against everything that if I didn't train you and I didn't expose you to my world, everything would just pass over you." A tear rolled down his cheek and he palmed his face. This was a surprise for Jaune. Jaune never had a sensitive father. Even before, when his dad paid attention to him, he was always Noah Arc, protector of humanity.

Now he just looked like a dad who lost his son.

Jaune swallowed uncomfortably, finally understanding why his dad had been so cold to him all these years. That didn't let Noah off the hook however. Jaune wanted to remind him of this.

"But now I'm way behind everyone else because of that." Jaune said quietly, this time without the accusatory tone. He just wanted to point out the error of his dad's ways. Noah just nodded silently.

"I know son. I'm sorry."

Noah looked Jaune in the eye for the first time since the beginning of the call.

"But I can try to make it up to you. The vision told me to tell you—look up a book called the Oghma Infinitum. It said that the book is in Ozpin's office. Tell Ozpin that Mr. Mora wants you to look at it."

Jaune nodded. It was a start.

It was a start to his investigation, and a start to mending his relationship with his dad.

At that moment, Jaune couldn't ask for anything more.

"Thanks dad." Jaune said, giving a more heartfelt smile than the one he had before. Noah returned the smile.

"Look son," Noah looked into Jaune's eyes, making sure that Jaune knew he was serious. "I'm not sure what I exactly saw in my vision, but know that no matter what, you have people that love you and support you no matter what happens."

Jaune nodded, his thoughts wandering to his mom and dad, his seven sisters, and his friends. Pyrrha, Ren, Nora. Blake, Weiss, Ruby. Yang.

"I know dad. Thanks." Noah nodded.

"Be careful out there Jaune."

"I will dad. I promise."

* * *

 **A/N: Wow this drama. Tch, shape _up_ Jaune. Gods you sound like an angsty teenager. **

**Lul, and now for a lighter note.**

 **OMEKE TIM!**

* * *

"Give it up Nora! We have you surrounded!" Jaune said, his voice cracking in fear as he hid behind his shield. Team RWBY, JNPR, CDRL, and CFVY had formed a loose ring around Nora, who stood on top of a mound of Grimm, cackling madly. Nora kept waving around the blasted staff, making everyone wince in fear.

Everyone there had been hit at least once by a blast from the Wabbajack, and had various effects happen on them. Many of them were in various states of undress, while others were the wrong gender. Several had been chased by giant crabs and monsters that emanated fire or ice or lightning, as well as momentarily being turned into objects such as mounds of cheese.

Pyrrha stepped up, carefully trying not to stumble on her very long pants.

"Please Nora," She pleaded, "haven't you had enough fun?" Pyrrha glanced up at Jaune, who had to fight the momentary urge not to pet her head, as she had shrunk to the size of a ten year old. Nora continued to laugh.

"Never! Why would I stop having so much fun?!" Nora said before blasting another stream of light, summoning… chickens?

The chickens flailed about, clucking in panic and streaming around between some of their legs and pecking some of the defenders, who cried out in surprise and dropped their guard.

Pyrrha turned desperately towards Jaune, grasping onto his sleeve. "Please Jaune, do something!"

 _Who's a good little girl,_ you _are, yes you are—what?_

"Huh?" Jaune said dumbly before snapping out of his daze, "Oh right!" He said before trying to advance to Nora. She kept the grin on her face and stood up tall and gave a bellowing laugh.

"The gods support me!" She declared and raised Wabbajack into the air, summoning an old man wearing clothes that would go well on Neo. He gave a wild laugh and snapped his fingers at the approaching crowd, a flash of light emanating outwards.

When they were able to see again, there was much shouting as Nora and the old man had disappeared, along with everyone else's clothes.


	6. Jaune and The Book

**A/N: Sorry for the short chapter, I've got this crazy headache that will _not_** **away that happens when I stare at a computer screen. Oh well. I just needed a chapter that'll push the story into the next arc.**

 **To make up for it, the Omake will be just a tad longer**

 **:D**

 **'nyways, Onwards!**

* * *

Ozpin glanced up at the elevator door as it dinged for someone's arrival. The frame parted and Jaune stepped through, a spark of nervousness in his eyes as he slowly made his way towards the desk. It took another moment before Ozpin spun around on his chair.

"Ah, Mr. Arc. I heard that you needed me for something?" Jaune wasn't sure who told him that, but when the intercom called for Jaune up to Ozpin's office, Jaune just assumed that Ozpin had a semblance that allowed him to know everything that happened in Beacon. Note to self: Never masturbate again.

Jaune nodded at Ozpin's question. "Yeah. I talked to my dad." Ozpin nodded. "Thank you for doing so. Did he say anything about why Crocea Mors was effective in fighting the Dragon while nothing else could do more than annoy it?"

Jaune opened his mouth, then closed it again, mentally smacking himself in the face. He knew he forgot something.

"Judging by that look on your face, I'm going to assume that you didn't." Ozpin said with a small smirk. Jaune rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.

"Er. Sorry Professor. I forgot. But my dad did tell me to tell you that uh…" Jaune tried to remember what his dad said. "You have a book." Ozpin nodded and Jaune smiled in relief, glad that Ozpin understood his vague language.

"I have many books." Ozpin said. Or apparently he had absolutely _no_ idea what Jaune was trying to say.

"No, I mean, a specific book. The uh, Oghma… Infinitum?" Again Ozpin cast Jaune a blank stare. Please don't let this be a practical joke, Jaune thought desperately.

"Something about a Mr. Mora?"

Finally Ozpin's confused look cleared up. "Ah, yes, I remember. He was a strange fellow I met way back when. Gave me this right here," Ozpin bent under the desk and lifted a freaking three hundred pound book, slamming it on the desk, causing everything on it to jump up a few inches. Jaune's jaw dropped at the same time the book landed on the table. It was enormous, probably having more than a thousand pages, bound in a strange quilt like patter with leather and cloth.

It looked like a very dangerous artifact. Something about the air around it made Jaune's hair stand on end. It was the same feeling Jaune had when he saw the Wyvern, as well as Azura and Vedrahgol. It felt like power, but in a different way than the other three. It was an insidious kind of power, something that would catch you off guard and cause you to submit. If there was anything that exemplified the saying 'knowledge was power', it would be this thing.

Ozpin continued to talk.

"Apparently he gave that to me to give to the first student that asked about it. Maybe you can do something about it."

"What do you mean?" Jaune asked. Ozpin folded his fingers together, for once setting both his cane and his mug to the side. Jaune knew that this would be serious.

"I, as well as Glynda, Peter, among other people, cannot find a way to open the book." He said solemnly.

Jaune blinked rapidly and looked down at the book. It didn't seem to have a clasp or anything. Jaune reached out and grabbed the edge of its cover, flipping the book open.

Except the cover didn't budge at all, and Jaune, not expecting the resistance, ended up pushing him out of his chair and falling to the ground. Jaune lay there surprised.

Standing up again, Jaune looked closely at the Oghma Infinitum. There didn't seem to be anything that kept it from opening. Jaune spread his fingers and laid it on the cover.

 _It seems you need some help._

Jaune yelped in surprise, causing Ozpin to raise an eyebrow in question. Jaune just chuckled nervously before Vedrahgol spoke again.

 _You seem to be put off about something maldovah._

"What are you talking about?" Jaune muttered.

"Did you say something Mr. Arc?" Ozpin asked, causing Jaune to just smile awkwardly and say something about 'talking to himself' before focusing on his inner dragon again.

 _Don't speak aloud. Just think and I will converse with you._

How could Vedrahgol speak to Jaune? Heck, if he could do that, why couldn't he have done so earlier, or just constantly talk to Jaune?

 _The answer is in your hands maldovah. Literally so._

Jaune glanced down at the Oghma.

 _Yes. It seems that when you are close to an artifact that comes from Nirn, our bond grows strong enough to speak to you._

Jaune glanced down at Crocea Mors.

 _Yes, that is why I can talk to you when you fight. Apparently you don't listen very well when the adrenaline pumping through you._

Jaune was kind of getting a little sick of all these little surprises. Now how was he going to open this book?

 _It seems that Hermaeus Mora is being clever with his little tome. Try to speak the word Bex, but make sure to channel it, as you don't want to—_

Jaune didn't listen to the rest of what Vedrahgol was saying, and simply said, "Bex."

What he didn't realize what that the word meant "open" in the dragon's tongue, and without a specific channel for the word, it simply decided to open everything within reach.

As the sound wave of Jaune's voice spread outwards, anything it touched that could be opened, opened.

The drawers of Ozpin's desk slammed open, the windows around fluttered open, the elevator doors slammed open, even though there wasn't the elevator car there. A loud zipping noise told Jaune that his fly decided to become undone as well, something he quickly fixed as discreetly as possible. And of course, the book flipped open, its pages fanning wildly.

 _—do that. Honestly maldovah, will you let me finish before doing something stupid?_

How was Jaune supposed to know that was going to happen? That wasn't really his fault.

 _If you let me finish, you would have known exactly what was going to happen you bruniik_.

So maybe it was a little his fault.

Jaune lifted the book into his arms and gave Ozpin a shaky grin.

"Well thanks for the book Professor Ozpin, I'll take a look at it now, bye!" Jaune rushed out towards the elevator and left. Ozpin simply glanced around the room before lifting his mug to his lips.

"Glynda will close everything." Ozpin said simply.

* * *

Jaune arrived in Team JNPR's room in record time before plopping himself on his bed, cracking open the tome.

 _Be careful!_

Vedrahgol's warning echoed in Jaune's mind, making him pause before he could read anything.

 _That tome contains unbelievable knowledge that men have started wars over. You have no idea what you may learn, and it will forever be imprinted into you. This may not be knowledge that you want to know._

Jaune paused for a second. That did sound kind of bad. However, if he didn't, he would have to struggle to learn more about his semblance. Was it a risk he was willing to take? Aw dust, what was the worst that could happen? With that thought, Jaune flipped a page to see fantastical diagrams filling the pages.

Light filled Jaune as knowledge of the Dragon Language flooded into his head. It went on for hours and days and years… or maybe it only lasted for a few seconds, but when Jaune opened his eyes again, he saw that the book had disappeared from his hands, and Vedrahgol was completely silent.

 _Vedrahgol?_ Jaune thought in his head silently. No answer. Jaune grasped Crocea Mors and thought the same thing. Still no answer.

Jaune's eyes widened, panicking just a bit. What if this was all a trick and he lost his semblance? Jaune couldn't have that happen.

"Please still have my semblance," Jaune muttered. "Fus Ro Dah—"

* * *

Pyrrha opened the doors to her room and stopped in front of the doorway.

Jaune laid on the floor, looking as if someone had just punched him in the gut. Two of the beds were upside down, and another bed was on its side next to the wall. Papers, tools, books, and writing utensils seemed to be strewn all over the place, along with a… griddle?

"Are you alright Jaune?" Pyrrha asked slowly. Jaune just groaned and put a thumbs-up.

Yang, who was in the adjacent room, poked her head in. "I heard a noise, is everything—HAH." Yang burst out laughing at the scene. Jaune just grabbed a nearby pencil and tossed it at Yang.

"So I guess you didn't really learn your lesson of not using your semblance in a casual setting?" Yang said in amusement. Jaune groaned again and sat up.

"I did it _once_ , how was I supposed to remember that anytime I said those words it would work?" Jaune just leaned against the wall, perfectly aware that the universe was out to get him.

Yang just snickered at the defeated expression on Jaune's face, walking into the room and grabbing the edge of a bed. "Come on, I'll help you clean this up." Her voice shook with laughter. Pyrrha raised an eyebrow at the out of place offer from Yang, but was happy that Jaune and her wouldn't have to clean everything up. Jaune didn't notice and just stood up. "Thanks Yang. I owe you one."

Yang smirked. "Well then, I don't mind making you do what I wanted." Yang gave him a wink. Jaune, luckily, was too tired to really respond.

They got to work, cleaning up the room relatively quickly with Yang's super strength and Pyrrha's magnetism. Jaune just picked up everything that wasn't metal and put things back in their proper place, making sure that Yang wasn't going to take anything or find anything that could be used as blackmail.

The finished right when all three of their scrolls went off.

Flipping them open, Jaune and company saw a brief message.

 _ALL TEAMS, REPORT TO MAIN AUDITORIUM._

Along with it was attached a picture that made all three of them pale.

Five fully grown Dragon-class Grimm stood floating above Beacon. Among them was a single man, riding the center dragon.

* * *

 **A/N: Shrug. Not the greatest thing I've ever written. Oh well. Omeke tim!**

* * *

"No."

Nora sat stubbornly on top of her giant crab, who she named Muddy, arms crossed, one hand holding onto her staff.

"Come on Nora." Jaune begged, literally on his knees. Again, Nora refused. Jaune fell back in exasperation, at the end of his rope with Nora. Ten-year old Pyrrha giggled at the display, twirling around a bit before plopping on Jaune's lap, legs folded and beaming radiantly. Without another thought, Jaune tapped into his many years of dealing with his younger sisters and wrapped his arms around her and bounced his legs a little, making kiddie Pyrrha squeal in delight.

"Come on Nora," Jaune was practically whining at this point in time. "Ren promised he would bake you a year's worth of pancakes if you gave back the staff." Nora looked genuinely confused for a second.

"Why would I do that when I can summon pancakes whenever I wanted?" Nora asked. Jaune's eyebrows drew together in confusion.

"What do you me-"

"Staff, use Pancake attack!" Nora said, hopping onto her feet and waving the staff around.

Out of thin air, piles of pancakes appeared and fell on top of Jaune, pinning him and Pyrrha onto the ground. Nora twirled around and yelled something about super effectiveness before egging Muddy to turn and go into another direction.

Jaune struggled to pull himself and Pyrrha free, setting Pyrrha on her feet before Jaune collapsed out of exhaustion. Pyrrha the kid just stood there cutely, nibbling a pancake before offering up half of it to Jaune.

Before Jaune could recover his breath, he heard several wings flap as four chickens settled onto the group in front of him. Jaune stared at them for a second, wishing briefly that they were in nugget form.

"Jaune." One of the chickens clucked, making Jaune jump as he realized that the voice belonged to Cardin. It took him a second before he groaned.

"Nora did this to you didn't she?" Jaune said.

"Yes." The chicken said. "And guess who I'm going to blame this on?" Jaune chuckled nervously.

"I don't know Cardin, I mean there were a lot of things that happened to—oh god Pyrrha save me!" Jaune shrieked as the four chickens, which was probably Team CDNL, started to attack him.

Jaune ran as fast as his legs could carry him, before running into Velvet.

He fell to the floor and tried to gather his surroundings before the chickens picked him apart with their tiny beaks, but realized that they had stopped attacking. Jaune looked back to see Velvet holding onto two of the chickens, strangling them slowly.

"Do not… MESS WITH ME!" Velvet roared before throwing the two chickens against the wall and kicking the closest one to her. The last chicken squawked and ran away, leaving Velvet and Jaune alone.

"Thanks for the save Velvet, I was in quite a bit of trouble there." Jaune sighed.

Velvet turned to him, her glare still fixed on her face.

 _Why did she look so angry? She never looks angry, even when—oh no_.

Without a second thought Velvet—heh heh—rabbit-punched him in the face, knocking him onto his back.

"WHY ARE YOU SO OBLIVIOUS?!" Velvet bellowed angrily, before landing on top of Jaune, wailing away at him.

The only thing that Jaune could think while he shrieked like a little girl getting pummeled by someone who practically weighed half as much as he did, was something he was _really_ getting used to thinking at this point.

 _Godammit Nora._


	7. Dragonborn and the Champion

**A/N: So, you know, every summer always seems like the promise of so much free time…**

 **Well, here's a tip. If you really want time to pass by without feeling like you're doing much, get addicted to games, and then decide to write on a schedule. XD**

 **Fuck me mate, why am I wasting money buying games when I need money for tuition? :(**

 **Sigh.**

 **'Nyways, Onwards!**

* * *

Ozpin held his cane tightly as the students filed into the auditorium at a steady, but urgent pace. He took a deep breath in, noticeable only to the teachers standing up front.

Many people think that Ozpin was an immovable wall of guile and determination, a force of nature that dominates Vale.

But he wasn't. Not really.

Not when he could be potentially sending his children to their deaths.

One would think that after so many years of training Hunters and Huntresses you would grow a thicker skin and count the deaths as unfortunate, but necessary.

But every death only held grief and regret that Ozpin couldn't have helped the student out a little more—made them into a stronger and more formidable force.

Another deep breath was released from Ozpin before he opened his eyes, waiting just a little while longer before the students found their spots and watched the teachers quietly, waiting for a explanation, then a mission.

He motioned to Glynda, and she pressed a few buttons on her scroll, summoning a large picture that was sent out just a little earlier to everyone.

"Students of Beacon," Professor Ozpin said in a steady voice, making sure that it carried out all the way to the end of the room. "We are under attack." Students turned to look at each other worriedly, but opted to stay quiet, knowing that any information that would be relayed would be critical in the upcoming moments.

"Just less than ten minutes ago, hordes of Grimm appeared from the forests around us, and the Grimm that are airborne have surrounded us in a tight bubble, cutting off any routes of escape without casualties. We do not know if they simply want to attack us, or trap us, but we must establish a defensive perimeter to protect ourselves." Another gesture from Ozpin got Professor Goodwitch to switch screens to several lists of Hunter teams.

"Behind me is the first unit, which will be lead by Professor Peach. You all will set up your weapons and make sure that should any of the airborne decide to attack, you will provide fire to prevent them from reaching us. Listen to the Professor, as this may turn into a concentrated attack at one spot in hopes of allowing Bullheads to go through."

Another screen filtered through with another group of teams.

"The next teams will establish a perimeter around the school itself. You will be in charge of creating the barricades that will discourage Grimm from overrunning us. Remember your lessons, and make sure the walls are sturdy and built in a timely manner. We do not know when the Grimm will attack. You all will be lead by Professor Port."

Again another screen blinked to life.

"The teams on the next screen will provide defense for the group before them. Make sure that they are unhindered in their process to create the barricades. Do not let them be harmed. You will all be led by Professor Oobleck."

Ozpin cast his glance at the select few that hadn't appeared on screen.

"Teams JNPR and RWBY. Please stay behind, as we have another mission in mind for you all."

Ozpin gripped his cane tightly, piecing together some more words before steeling himself, making sure that he didn't think about what would happen should the Grimm attack. Ozpin made sure to look at every team, to remember them. Just in case. Professor Ozpin nodded solemnly.

"Students of Beacon. Do not falter if the Grimm attack. Fight back and make sure that you protect each other. However, if you do not think that you can hold out, do _not_ play the hero and continue to fight. You are not true Hunters yet. You do not need to risk your life as of now. When this is all over, I expect to see every team back safe and sound." Ozpin gave a small smirk, indulging in a little pre-war humor. "Any team that does not will be receiving poor marks." A wave of chuckles, some more strained than others, rose out of the crowd.

"Go." Ozpin said simply, and the students as well as the teachers started to move into action, organizing into their respective groups and executing their plans.

Team RWBY and Team JNPR walked up to Professor Ozpin and simply waited. No one said anything. Yang didn't try and make light of the situation, and even Nora was more subdued than usual.

"As you guys have seen in the picture that I sent over the scrolls, there seems to be a group of Dragons out there." A few nods. Ozpin continued. "I would like for both teams to head out and confront them, as well as the rider. There is no reason that Grimm would be grouped into such large numbers and not attacking us now. Instead, the Grimm are just sitting there as if waiting for something."

"Why aren't they attacking us then?" Yang asked. Jaune glanced to the side and answered for the professor.

"Because the rider is controlling them." Jaune said, before realizing something else. "And he wants something." Ozpin nodded.

"That would be the safest assumption." The group looked amongst themselves, having tiny unspoken conversations with each other.

"Why us?" Blake asked. Ozpin nodded again, this time in approval of the question.

"Because whatever this is, this involves someone who can control the Grimm, and can control the Dragons. Mr. Arc here has some kind of affinity with the Dragon-Grimm, and we were hoping that this would help in… figuring everything out." He finished.

Ozpin knew that the explanation was thin at best. The truth of the matter was… Ozpin didn't know what was happening. Being the headmaster of one of the greatest combat schools helps lend credibility that came with substantial backing. There was very little that Ozpin didn't know about. Grimm, The Maidens, The Legend of the Silver Eyes… but Ozpin was at a loss to what was happening now.

Nothing he had ever learned about has even _hinted_ towards someone, or something, trying to control the Grimm. Ozpin hadn't even heard rumors of _attempts_ of doing so yet. Another complete unknown was Jaune's semblance. In all his years watching the thousands of students that came and went through Beacon, he had never seen a semblance like Jaune's.

Ozpin may have been at the end of his rope in this, but if there was one thing he learned from experience and time, it was that nothing ever really happened as a coincidence.

And having two unknowns drop into his lap at almost the same time was too much to be a simple coincidence.

Of course there was the gamble.

It could be that Ozpin was just blindly throwing his dice in the air, and landing on a bad roll. It could be that these two events had nothing to do with each other, and Ozpin would only aggravate the situation.

But after so many decades of doing crisis-management, there was one skill that he's relied on to pull him through to the next day.

His gut.

And right now, Ozpin could feel his gut declaring that Jaune and the mysterious rider were destined to meet.

He just hoped that he was right.

"Do not worry. Professor Goodwitch will be accompanying you to make sure that everything will be safe. If anything goes wrong, please listen to the professor. She knows what she is doing." Ozpin looked at each and every individual, taking note of their postures of determination, not one of them shirking in fear.

"Go out there and make contact with the rider. Whatever he wants—negotiate with him. Find a way to make it so that things do not end in conflict. But if it is necessary, do try and make sure the rider and his dragons do not participate in the fight. If worse comes to worse, stall for as long as possible. I will be calling in reinforcements, which will arrive as soon as possible." Ozpin's voice grew a little softer, a touch more sentimental.

"You all have such great potential. Do not squander it. Play this very carefully, and make sure you all come out of this safe. There will be no bigger priority to us teachers than to keep you all safe." All eight of them nodded, understanding what Professor Ozpin was trying to say.

Try and help if possible. But they were more important than the mission, and it's more important that they stay alive.

"Now go." Ozpin said, his hands still gripping his cane tightly. "Go and make a difference."

* * *

Jaune, along with his friends, walked steadily towards the outside of Beacon, no one really wanting to make a sound. Jaune had a hand laid on Crocea Mors, hoping desperately that Vedrahgol would decide to talk to him. What he heard instead, was the slow panicky voice of himself, putting him into more and more of a frantic state.

What had happened to Vedrahgol? Did the Oghma Infinitum do something to him? Was the book a trap laid out by someone who wanted to keep Jaune away from what was probably Jaune's best source of information?

Vedrahgol was vicious, and seemed to be the one to push Jaune to be more… _primal_ than he usually was, but he was a force that Jaune could've counted on.

And now he was completely silent.

 _That couldn't have been a trap,_ Jaune thought angrily to himself. Noah was Jaune's father, he wouldn't do something like that… would he? Jaune recalled the conversation he had only a few hours before with his father.

 _"I hoped against everything that if I didn't train you and I didn't expose you to my world, everything would just pass over you."_

His dad had tried to stunt Jaune's growth before… could it be possible that Noah would do something like this again? Jaune thought carefully to himself.

Yes.

Noah would do something like that. But only if he knew that it would keep Jaune safe. Jaune thought back to the masked rider on top of the dragon.

No, Jaune wasn't any safer than he was before he read the Oghma.

So if it wasn't his dad's fault, than was it the dream sender's fault? Mr. Mora?

Jaune growled quietly to himself. None of this added up.

Jaune turned to the left when he felt a hand touch his side, revealing a concerned Pyrrha.

"Are you alright Jaune? You look a little worried there." She asked quietly. Jaune tried to cover it up, smiling weakly.

"Not really. We're going to be facing some guy riding a dragon… and he's controlling the other Grimm around him." Jaune gave a weak laugh. "I don't think this is going to turn out so well."

Pyrrha gave a reassuring smile to Jaune. "Don't worry Jaune. We're here for you, whatever happens. Don't think that you're alone in this." Jaune gave another smile, this one more genuine than the last.

"Thanks Pyrrha." Jaune said. _But this was only a part of what's worrying me,_ Jaune thought to himself.

The nine of them stepped outside into the open sky, and stopped in amazement.

There were so many Grimm in every direction, it looked as if the world had been swallowed in black. The Nevermore were crowding and clumped together to the point where sunlight was having trouble streaming through. If the team looked out into the fields, they could see waves and waves of Grimm, to the point where it wasn't black that was dotting the lands, but patches of brown and green dotting the sea of black.

Everybody in the group tightened their grips on their weapons, their bodies tense with fear.

Who had the power to do all of this?

As if on cue, a rush of wind surrounded them like they were underneath a Bullhead's exhaust, and an echo of a roar rushed out to meet them.

"Dovahkiin Nizah!" The voice echoed, rumbling into Jaune's bones as his mind automatically translated the words. False Dragonborn. Jaune looked up to see the masked rider, adorned in a ragged cloak and carrying a carved staff. The rider pointed the staff at Jaune menacingly. Jaune swallowed his fear and stepped forward, still keeping a hand on the hilt of his sword.

"Who are you?" Jaune said loudly, making sure that he would be heard over the five pairs of wings flapping simultaneously.

The rider laid a hand on the dragon he was riding, guiding it down onto the ground, causing the group to stumble a little as the floor shook with the sudden weight. The masked rider hopped down, standing beside the docile Grimm.

"I am Imaar, the King of the Beasts." He raised his staff into the air, and all around him, the Grimm straightened and tilted their heads towards him.

Creepy.

Again Jaune tried not to fall into a helpless puddle as he said in what he thought was a controlled and calm voice. He ignored the fact that there was a slight tremor in the tone.

"Why are you here?" Jaune asked. Imaar lowered the staff, causing the Grimm to relax again before he answered.

"I am here to offer this school of warriors mercy." Imaar intoned. "If you surrender to me, I will not harm any of you. In return, you will all swear fealty to me, as I will use you to help me conquer the rest of this world."

Jaune blinked uncertainly. What? He looked to Professor Goodwitch, as well as his friends, and saw them all staring at him unnervingly.

"What?" Jaune asked. Yang answered his question with another question.

"What are you guys saying?" She asked.

Now this was getting confusing. Jaune opened his mouth to ask her what she meant. Didn't she hear everything they just said. Then he hesitated. Vedrahgol's words came to mind at this moment.

 _What do you think we have been speaking this whole entire time?_

Could Jaune be talking in… Dragon tongue? Was he doing it automatically?

There wasn't time for him to think about this at the moment though.

"His name is Imaar. And he wants us to be his soldiers so he can take over Remnant." Jaune explained shortly.

"Absolutely not." Professor Goodwitch retorted, crossing her arms sternly. "We are an independent school and we will most certainly _not_ allow someone to just march in and take it over." Jaune nodded readily, knowing that was going to be the likeliest reply. But…

Jaune looked around again, taking in the sight of the hundreds of thousands of Grimm that separated Beacon from the rest of Remnant. There were hundreds of students down there, as well as dozens of teachers. That kind of force could very well take down a hundred thousand Grimm, maybe even two.

But the amount of Grimm that filled his vision wasn't anywhere near two hundred thousand Grimm.

It was way more.

Imaar took the time to interrupt Jaune's pensive thoughts.

"Alternatively, I would be satisfied with seven handpicked warriors, to be replenished when the numbers fall, along with you, Dovahkiin, swearing fealty to me." Imaar said.

Jaune hesitated again. That sounded… a lot better if Jaune was to be honest. Eight people was a whole lot less than the hundreds that would be conscripted (or killed), and there couldn't possibly be a way for Imaar to do _that_ much damage with eight people.

Right?

Then again, the way the rider wanted the numbers to be… _replenished_ just sounded so sinister and—and inevitable, as if he knew there would be casualties.

Jaune shook his head mentally. No. This offer only sounded better.

"And if we refuse?" Jaune asked Imaar.

The dragon rider paused for a second, face tilting to the side just enough to be considered inhuman. Imaar's hand that was holding the staff started to stroke it gently, like one would a lover. Jaune shivered at the sight.

"I will do nothing." Imaar said.

 _What?_

"What?" Jaune asked dumbly. Imaar grasped the staff tightly, burying it into the ground, which was impressive seeing as how the ground beneath him was made of concrete.

"I will do nothing." Imaar repeated carefully. "I will go and leave this place, and find somewhere to start my conquest. I am only here to demonstrate a fraction of my ability, as well as offer a merciful hand to the brave warriors here."

Jaune was confused. Like, very confused.

Who brought hundreds of thousands of Grimm with them and decided _not_ to attack with them? Who used this a sight like this to show a _fraction_ of their ability?

"But remember this." Imaar continued speaking. "One day I will return, and I will bring a force much larger than this, and much more fearsome than this." Imaar's free hand rose up and pointed directly at Jaune. "And I will crush this combat skill and grind it into _dust_." The voice filtered out into a hiss at the end of the sentence.

Jaune gulped.

"Jaune?" Ruby said quietly.

Jaune turned and saw Ruby looking at him in concern. He was probably white with fear at this point. Jaune let out a shaky breath and started to translate the conversation.

"He says—he says that if we don't agree to do this, he'll just leave. But—but he'll come back. And he'll be stronger. And angrier."

The two teams looked troubled at Jaune's words, but still had a spark of defiance in their eyes.

"I think I can speak for everybody," Weiss said quietly, "in saying that he can take his offer and shove it."

Even scared, even hopelessly outnumbered and facing something no one had any idea how to face—they were hunters.

They would be the first ones to take a stand, and the last ones to fall.

"Thank you Miss Schnee." Professor Goodwitch said. "And I will be happy to say the same for every member of the faculty as well." She glared at the masked man. "We will not bow to petty threats."

Petty. Right. Jaune glanced up again at the hordes of Grimm.

"I have a feeling that you all have reached a consensus." Imaar said calmly. Jaune nodded.

"We have." Jaune said, and took a deep breath.

"We refuse to follow you."

Jaune couldn't see Imaar's expression, as it was covered behind his mask, but Jaune could see Imaar's hands gripping the staff a little tighter, his shoulders rising a little in tension. Imaar finally nodded.

"Very well. Remember this when I come back to destroy you all. You had a chance to be on the side of champions."

With that said, Imaar pulled his staff out of the ground and turned to his beast, grabbing a horn and hoisting himself up, sitting comfortably in between the Dragon's neck ridges. Nodding to Jaune, Imaar had one last word before departing into the skies.

"Daar ah lif wah kron"

 _This hunter departs to conquer_.

As Imaar ascended into the skies, a flash of light erupted from his staff, and every land born Grimm turned and ran back into the forests, and the ones that flew circles briefly around Beacon, like a black tornado, before separating and spreading out into the blue sky.

* * *

 **A/N: There you go, some** ** _plot_** **, freakin' finally.**

 **On that note, The Adventures of Nora and the Crazy Stick will be wrapped up in this little omake, as I am running out of people to bully.**

 **Enjoy. :)**

* * *

"So, what do you think?"

The slow blinking eye centered in a mass of black tentacles turned to see a grinning Sheogorath with his hands on his waist. Sheogorath tilted his chin to point at the scene that had been laid out in front of the small, but powerful audience.

"This is an interesting world. Full of magic that is advanced and different from the world of Nirn's." A tall elderly man said, his eyes alight with humor. "It seems like a world where I can wreak my havoc."

Sheogorath gave a belly laugh, happy that Clavicus liked it. Clavicus was one of the few Princes that Sheogorath got along swimmingly with, and he knew that introducing Clavicus would only make things more interesting.

"What's happening over there?" A powerful being resembling an Orc pointed at the display. The others turned to look at what the scene was showing.

Nora was tied up, squirming against her bonds as she was wrapped against a stake. Several irate friends and allies where armed with fury, which resembled pitchforks. Ren the woman had stepped in front of Nora, trying to protect her from the angry chickens that wanted to rain down justice onto her.

Jaune had been knocked out and stripped down to his boxers, hanging upside down. Little Pyrra was trying to untie him, but could only really hop a few inches into the air and could only really just pout and look pretty.

"Oh, just the usual ending to my usual fun." Sheogorath said, waving the matter aside.

"The more important thing is, will you guys join me in a little bit of debauchery?" Sheogorath asked, a grin splitting his face. The rest of the group smiled along with him, glad to find more victims to play with.

"Oh Sheogorath, debauchery is what I do." Sanguine said, laughing gleefully. "When can we get started?" Sheogorath gave a happy smile.

"Whenever you guys like."


	8. Mora and His Champion

**A/N: And so, another chapter arrives ^-^. I really enjoy this one... my longest one so far!**

 **'Nyways, Onwards!**

* * *

"What do you think of him?"

Professor Ozpin lifted his mug up to his lips, drawing a sip in. In front of him stood Jaune, who looked very troubled. Jaune scratched the side of his cheek, absently thinking about what had happened just a few minutes ago.

Imaar, who was some kind of Dragon Rider, wanted to take over the world.

Why?

Was there something he wanted in Remnant? Or was Imaar just power hungry, and wanted control?

How did no one know about him?

Jaune looked up at Professor Ozpin, frowning at the question.

"He seems dangerous." Jaune said. Ozpin raised an eyebrow.

"I think I've established that Mr. Arc." Ozpin said drily. "What I mean is did you sense anything… unique about him?"

Jaune paused, thinking about Imaar. The man—if he could be called a man—had been covered in a cloak, as well as a dark mask. Jaune hadn't been able to see anything about Imaar besides his gestures, which there was very few of.

Even though Imaar had hidden himself very well, Jaune could still feel the power that had emanated from him, something that put Jaune's teeth on edge while Jaune was looking at Imaar.

And he spoke Dragontongue.

Whatever Imaar was, it had something to do with Azura and Vedrahgol, and their world. Which brought up another question.

How did Imaar get onto Remnant?

Jaune needed answers, and the only places he could get the answers would be from Azura or Vedrahgol. One Jaune didn't even know how to contact, and one hadn't spoken a word to him since he had read the Oghma Infinitum.

"Whatever he was Professor," Jaune said quietly, "he isn't from this world."

The professor leaned back and weaved his fingers together, Ozpin's face intent on the implications that Jaune had said. The room was silent as the both of them continued to think. Finally Ozpin leaned back forward and placed his hands on the desk.

"Very well. We will have to continue this another time. It's late Mr. Arc, I'd suggest you get some rest." Ozpin said. Jaune nodded gratefully, exhaustion bearing down on him from the day's worth of excitement. Jaune rose to leave and was stopped before he entered the elevator by Professor Ozpin calling out his name once more. Turning, Jaune saw a slightly curious expression on the professor's face.

"By the way, did that book help you at all?" Ozpin asked. Jaune blinked at the unexpected question. While the Oghma had finally seemed to broaden his understanding of the Dragon's language, it also seemed to silence the only link that Jaune had to the other world, except his sword and shield… which couldn't really help him understand the other world.

Instead Jaune just gave a small smile and nodded. Ozpin smiled back and finally turned away from Jaune, dismissing him.

Jaune leaned back onto the elevator walls as the doors closed. Stomach jumping up with the elevator, Jaune kept thinking about Imaar, and how he related to Jaune. It didn't take much thinking to figure out that Imaar was the threat that Azura was warning Jaune about. He looked dangerous, but how dangerous? Jaune didn't know anything about him, except that he was part of the same world as Vedrahgol and Azura, and could control the Grimm with his staff.

His thoughts kept circling around and around the subject until he opened the door into his room and was surprised by four more bodies than he expected inside.

"It's about time!" Yang exclaimed, throwing up her arms. "What took you so long Jauney?" Jaune gave a weak grin, trying to shake off the sudden surprise of having both teams staring at him.

"Oh you know what it's like when you're called into Ozpin's office. He wants a thorough report." Jaune said, laughing unconvincingly. Weiss rolled her eyes and crossed her arms.

"Right. And what are we going to do about the rider? As a matter of fact, what were the two of you speaking in? I have never heard of that language before." Weiss demanded. Jaune winced internally, but tried not to show it too much. Another question that Jaune couldn't really answer.

"It's, uh, something or the other." Jaune said vaguely. "My dad taught me some of it and uh, I guess I remember enough to talk to him."

"What a load of bull." Yang said, glaring at him. Jaune's shoulders dropped in resignation.

Yeah, he wasn't the greatest liar in the world.

He needed to work on that.

Jaune glanced around the room to see everyone still focused on him, all of them waiting on Jaune to admit the truth. Jaune sighed and rubbed the back of his neck, trying to think of the best way to talk about… everything. Jaune took a deep breath and began.

"So you know about my semblance…" Jaune started.

He described his semblance, and the two dreams that he had back to back. Jaune explained how he unlocked his semblance, and how dragons were related to it. Jaune also talked about the Oghma Infinitum, and what it did to him, as well as Vedrahgol.

When Jaune finally finished, the rest of the room fell into a stunned silence, not sure how to process everything. But some of them seemed willing to try.

"So, what you're saying is that you can speak the language of… of dragons?" Yang said tentatively. Jaune nodded, adding in, "Well, Dragons from the world where _my_ dragon used to live in, which is called… Nirn. If I remember right. Which I might not."

Yang waved her hands in front of Jaune, stopping him from rambling on for much longer. Taking care of Ruby for so long, it didn't take much to pick up on how to interact with Jaune.

"Right, right." Yang said, "But what you're also saying is that when you say specific words in a specific order, it… it…" Yang's eyebrows gathered together as she tried to figure out how to phrase it. Jaune didn't envy her, knowing that what he could do was pretty… weird.

"I guess you could call it bending reality." Jaune offered. Yang kept her frown, still not happy with the phrasing, but she let it slide for now, not able to see another way to describe it.

"And you're right Yang. That's apparently the case." Jaune answered the partial question.

"How?" This time it wasn't Yang who asked, but Pyrrha who looked intrigued, but also a little worried. Jaune snorted mentally. Even showing off something so cool made her worry so much. Jaune didn't doubt that some way, somehow, Pyrrha had construed those words to make it so that Jaune's semblance was going to be harmful to him in some way.

Nevertheless, Pyrrha had a point in asking that question. How did it work anyways? Was the language of the dragons just something that was so powerful that when Jaune spoke, it was always true? That sounded ridiculous. But it didn't change the fact that Jaune _didn't know_.

Dust, Jaune didn't think that he was going to miss the homicidal dragon soul that had inhabited his body. Finally, Jaune gave up trying to think of a good answer for Pyrrha and slumped down a little, muttering and small "I don't know," to her.

And on cue, Pyrrha decided that the best thing to do was to protect her partner.

"Well, maybe it wouldn't be a good idea for you to continue to use your semblance until you know more about it then." Pyrrha said in a kind tone. No matter how kind it sounded though, to Jaune it just sounded as though Pyrrha didn't trust him.

And with his own semblance nonetheless.

Jaune shook his head, a little stubbornly if he was willing to admit it.

"No. This is the only link that I have to Imaar, and I have a feeling that I need my semblance. I mean," Jaune laughed, with a slight touch of hysteria in his voice. "when has anyone's semblance really hurt them? And who here really decided that 'oh, maybe I should be careful until I figure out more about my semblance?'" Jaune looked around to see that no one answered his question, knowing that he was right.

Pyrrha rested a hand on his shoulder, her maternal instincts still not sated apparently.

"Still, you're a special case Jaune. Your aura was unlocked only a year or so ago, and then your semblance doesn't show up until now. Maybe it's true that none of us really were cautious, but I don't think it would hurt—" Pyrrha stopped when Jaune stood up abruptly. Jaune's face was drawn together in an angry scowl, having enough of Pyrrha's mother henning.

"So what you're saying is that you don't think I can handle my own semblance." Jaune said quietly. Pyrrha drew back, a little stung.

"No! That's not what I meant at all!" Pyrrha said hurriedly. Jaune turned towards her, still angry.

"Then what did you mean? That I can't take care of myself? That I don't know what I'm doing?" Jaune brushed his bangs to the side in a brusque manner, too angry to think straight. "I'll have you know that I can _very_ much take care of myself. I may not be the best fighter around, heck, any one of you guys could probably stomp me flat!" Jaune drew in a deep breath. "But," Jaune added softly, "that doesn't mean I'm defenseless." Jaune looked at Pyrrha in the eyes. "So stop treating me like a baby that needs to be protected."

A long silence drew out into the room, Jaune still standing in front of the sitting Pyrrha, who had a hurt expression on her face. She finally decided to lower her gaze to the side, her arms crossed under her chest, her eyes closing to hide the hurt.

At this moment Jaune finally calmed down, and could see that his words were just a tiny bit aggressive towards Pyrrha. His conscience kicked in, and Jaune wanted to throw himself out of Ozpin's office in embarrassment for losing his temper like that.

Jaune pinched the bridge of his nose, letting out a sigh.

"Pyrrha—I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap at you like that." Jaune continued, "but Pyrrha, you have to realize that I'm not the same guy I was when we just arrived at Beacon. I mean, I had one the _the_ best fighters in the school teach me, don't you think I've picked up just a little?" Jaune said with a grin.

Pyrrha's lips curled slowly into a small smile, finally understanding what Jaune was trying to get through. He was right, Pyrrha thought. Jaune and Pyrrha were partners for more than a year now, and it's hard to see people change when you see them every single day. But if Pyrrha recalled the awkward boy that came to Beacon unsure of his potential and compared him to the man who stood in front of her today, who wasn't running away from confrontations…

Then she could see it.

Jaune was stronger than she would care to admit.

Finally Pyrrha gave a small nod, which turned Jaune's grin into a full blown smile. Feeling the moment, Jaune leaned down and gave Pyrrha a tight hug, making her jump a little and go 'eep'.

"Thanks for understanding Pyrrha." Jaune murmured as he pulled away. Pyrrha just nodded, her face a little pink.

"Well, that was a thing." Yang said in amusement, startling Jaune. He had forgotten about the people in the room, and now he was the one that was red in the face. There were a few people that were polite enough to look away from such an emotional scene (Blake, Ren, Weiss), and others who silently watched in hyperactive joy (Nora, Ruby). And _then_ there were the people who saw this and couldn't help but tease the two people (Who else?).

Ren, being the kind friend that he is, decided to rescue the two of them before Yang could say anything else.

"I think it's time for us to go to bed. After all, we have had a very unusual day, and it would be best for us to recharge for the next morning." Ren said calmly. Nora jumped onto her feet, agreeing with the childhood friend.

"Yeah! We need to be at the top of our game so that we can beat some dragon butt!" Nora declared, arms high up to the sky with a smile the size of Vale.

Everyone else found that as their cue to pick up after themselves to leave, except Yang, who sported a big pout.

"Aw, but I wanted to play with Jauney." She whined. Blake rolled her eyes and grabbed Yang's arm.

"Come on Yang, let's go." Yang resisted for a little while, still moaning.

"Aw come on, I just want some time with Jauney~" She said, winking at him. Jaune's face turned a little bit redder at the wink.

"If we didn't know any better, it would sound as if you were hitting on Jaune." Blake said in a sarcastic voice. Yang snickered.

"Well, Jaune _did_ beat me in a fight. And he isn't a _bad_ person." Yang winked at Jaune again before saying, "Maybe Jaune's finally sp _Arc'_ d my interest!"

Everyone groaned.

"Yang, that was probably your worst one yet." Ruby said exasperatedly. "I think you need to go back to your room and reflect on your actions."

And with that, team RWBY firmly shoved Yang out of JNPR's room, causing Yang to yelp at the sudden force.

Jaune released a breath in relief as they all left, and turned to change out of his school clothes.

Hopefully he could have a full night's rest to clear his mind.

* * *

"A whole year at Beacon and you still can't learn not to jinx yourself." Jaune muttered.

A roiling plain of black surrounded Jaune, looking like a prairie field that was under an enormous shadow. The black leaves waved to an imaginary wind, which felt incredibly odd when you couldn't feel any hint of a breeze. If Jaune concentrated, he could see circular clouds in the distance.

Scattered across the ground were dozens and dozens of roots that seemed to stick out in the oddest of ways, which only made the area look eerier.

Jaune took a step forward and jumped when the roots decided to sift around in the ground, a few of them pulling out and pointing towards Jaune.

"So you are the one they are relying on." A voice said with a tone of amusement. The tone was strange, as if whoever was speaking was at the end of a tunnel, and his voice bouncing and echoing multiple times along the walls.

Jaune turned and gaped at the sight that lay behind him.

One of the so-called clouds that Jaune had spotted earlier was floating right in front of him, pulsing a sickly looking black, some parts lighter than others, making the scheme look like a pattern of black and purple. The roots that Jaune saw on the floor were, in fact, _not_ roots, but what seemed like tentacles, which seemed to stream in and out of the sphere. In the dead middle of the what looked like a tear of the world, an eye rested, watching Jaune intently.

Jaune took a step back in fear.

Jaune's instincts, honed through so many months of high pressure situations, were screaming at him to run away. Jaune didn't know what that thing was, but he could feel it all the way in his bones that whatever it was, it wasn't right.

Jaune felt like he was staring at the face of an evil that had a total apathy for everything it set its eyes on.

Jaune gulped nervously, knowing that this visit was different than when Azura had visited him.

"What do you want?" Jaune asked, hoping to dust that his voice wasn't too shaky. The sphere seemed to shake a little, and a strange noise echoed endlessly from within it. It was laughing.

"What I want is what you need, boy." The sphere said, its tone contemptuous if a sphere could be that.

"What—Who are you?" Jaune said haltingly, quietly wondering if everyone on the other world liked to answer questions in the vaguest ways possible. The sphere went silent for a second, as if contemplating on whether or not to give an answer.

Finally it spoke, again in a voice that made all of Jaune's hairs stand on end.

"Are you sure you want to know, boy? With knowledge comes a price. Are you willing to pay it?" The dark abyss asked almost tauntingly. Jaune didn't know what was happening at the moment. He felt more at edge talking to this thing than he had talking to Imaar, who also had the whole school surrounded with a number of Grimm.

It was like that game of Chess his dad used to try to make him play, except that if Jaune made the wrong move, he would be eaten whole.

"How much of a price is there to know your name?" Jaune asked cautiously, deciding to start with that. The abyss didn't answer right away, and Jaune wasn't sure if he was considering the price or impressed at Jaune's careful question.

"The price to know my name is simply an equivalency." The sphere finally said. "A trade, if you will. If I would say my name, may I know yours?"

Once again Jaune took his time before answering. His dad had told him many fairytales when he was younger, before he had dreams of becoming a hunter. One of them was a creature who talked in riddles and tongues, finding a way to steal an unsuspecting soul.

One of the ways this could be done was through your name.

Now, Jaune didn't know if this was the same thing. Heck, seeing as how it was clearly from the other world, Jaune didn't even know if they had the same legends, if the abyss could do something like that.

But…

Jaune needed to know something more. He was stuck in a place where he knew just enough to get in into trouble, but not enough to get him out. Whatever that thing in front of Jaune was, it seemed like it knew a lot, no matter how sinister it felt.

"My name is Jaune." Jaune said slowly, deciding that leaving out his last name would be a safe thing to do.

The dark sphere pulsed once, the tentacles surrounding it writhing, as though in ecstasy.

"And I am known as many things," The abyss started, which Jaune couldn't help but mentally sigh at, seeing as how every one of the things that he's met in his dreams seemed to say the same thing. The sphere continued, unaware of Jaune's thoughts.

"But to me, you may call me Hermaeus Mora." It said with a tone of finality.

Jaune paused, as if trying to remember something. He had heard this name before. Hadn't he? Jaune should have been able to recall a name as unusual as that one… but he couldn't really put his finger on it yet.

Hermaeus… Hermaeus Mora… Mora…

Jaune's eyes widened in recognition of the name, at last.

"You were the one that gave Professor Ozpin the book." Jaune said. Now that he thought about it, he remembered his dad talking to him about having a dream talking to something similar to what was in front of him.

Hermaeus dipped in acknowledgement, and blinked slowly. It didn't bother to add anything though, letting Jaune continue.

"Why?" Jaune asked, "Why did you do that? And—" Jaune remembered what had happened when he opened the book. "Why isn't Vedr—my dragon soul talking to me?" Jaune covered up Vedrahgol's name hastily, not sure if it would be a wise thing to tell Hermaeus. After so long, Jaune finally learned that operating cautiously would be more beneficial to him in the long run.

Hermaeus laughed again, and Jaune still couldn't shake the feeling of dread when he did so.

"Oh? Is that what happened? My Oghma Infinitum behaves very unpredictably. Even _I_ do not know what it may do next." For an open admittance in ignorance, Hermaeus seemed very smug, as if he was proud of the fact. If Jaune wasn't confused before, he was in the thick of it now.

"I don't understand." Jaune said finally. Hermaeus let out a sound that seemed like a cross between amusement and intrigue.

"It doesn't matter if you don't understand. This is not what I am here for." Hermaeus said. Jaune stiffened as the wretched abyss decided to turn towards his business.

"What I am here for, is your cooperation." Hermaeus Mora said slowly. Jaune didn't have any time to ask for what, as the being only paused for a second.

"I want you to join up with a dragon priest named Imaar, and help me collect knowledge upon your world." It said. Jaune's face paled a little, if not a little happy that another piece had finally been settled onto the table.

"Imaar? You mean the one that's going to try and take over Remnant? Is that why he's doing this?" Jaune said in an almost brave tone. The eye blinked slowly, as if Hermaeus could hardly care about that.

"I only released Imaar out of his prison and asked him to collect for me. I did not specify how." The sphere gave a long sigh that held no emotion. "And I could hardly care how he goes around doing so. So long as he does it."

Jaune… was angry. Sure he was scared, but now he was also a little angry. How could something not care so much? So many people could die from this. In fact, Jaune knew that none of the schools would give up their students so easily, and Jaune doubted that Imaar would do the same thing he did at Beacon and simply leave every single time.

"So, what say you?" Hermaeus Mora said. Jaune glared at the eye, his fists tightening.

"I would never help something so… so _uncaring_ about human life." Jaune said angrily. Once again, Hermaeus blinked slowly, its tentacles seeming to stop in place.

"So you… refuse?" Hermaeus asked. "That is not a wise choice. I am not the one you want to cross, Jaune." Hermaeus said his name with perfect enunciation, as if Jaune was the one speaking his name. Jaune shivered at that, hoping he wasn't doing something stupid.

Oh dust, it's not like it would be the first time.

"I refuse." Jaune said firmly, steeling himself.

Hermaeus stared at Jaune for a moment, as if weighing his options.

"Very well." Hermaeus said finally, before his tentacles exploded into action, writing their way towards where Jaune was standing. Jaune screamed (note: screamed, not shrieked. And even if he did, who could hear it?) and jumped backwards, dodging a particularly fast one and turning to run the other way, only to meet with another dozen or so of the tentacles on the other side.

The tentacles wrapped around him, constricting his movement and holding him completely still. Jaune was turned to face Hermaeus again.

"Such a shame," The abyss sighed, "I looked forward to a new champion. However, your knowledge will have to do." As it said that, a single tentacle raised up and aimed itself at Jaune, looking every bit much as menacing as any weapon that Jaune had seen. Jaune would have screamed as the tentacle thrust itself towards him, but another one had covered up his lips, not allowing him to speak.

" _Gaar Mun Staadnau!_ "

And as quick as a flash the tentacles uncoiled around Jaune, dropping him onto his knees. Gasping for air, Jaune looked up to see the hovering form of Vedrahgol in all his majestic glory.

The dragon roared, shaking everything from the ground to the air around Jaune before diving towards Hermaeus.

"This human is mine!" Vedrahgol roared.

Hermaeus Mora chuckled uncaringly and sent another one-eyed glance over to Jaune, causing him to brace just for a moment.

"Until next time then, Jaune." It said, before shrinking in on itself and disappearing.

Vedrahgol crashed into the ground where Hermaeus was, bringing up dust and dirt that blinded Jaune.

When his vision was restored, Jaune found himself back in Vedrahgol's cave.

"What… was that?" Jaune said shakily.

The dragon swung his head towards Jaune, watching in almost a human way, his eyes filled with weariness. The head of Vedrahgol lowered itself, getting close to Jaune, who flinched at the close proximity.

"I apologize Maldovah. The demon that you saw had found a way to bind me temporarily, and it has taken much of my ingenuity to find myself free of its grasp." Vedrahgol said, his voice rasping like two pieces of sandpaper.

"I don't—I don't understand." Jaune stammered.

"I know. But I am tired. You are tired. For now, rest. Tomorrow brings a new day, and we will discuss how to tear our enemies apart then."

Before Jaune could say anything, or even react to that, Vedrahgol leant his head and touched his snout to Jaune's forehead, breathing out a word that Jaune couldn't hear, and a flash of light enveloped Jaune as he faded out of consciousness.

* * *

 **Omake**

 **Props to THEREADINGADDICT123 for the idea of this next omake**

* * *

"What the…?" Yang said, trailing off as she looked at the scene in front of her.

A circle was drawn around the floor of their room, the lights completely off. In the middle of the circle was a trussed up Jaune, thrashing desperately around with wide eyes.

Blake sat next to Jaune, wielding a knife that looked older than Remnant.

"Uh. What's going on here?" Weiss asked from behind Yang. Blake, who for once had her ears uncovered by her bow, looked up at the three of them and smiled viciously.

"Oh hi there guys. Don't mind me." Blake said casually, bringing down the knife. Jaune was luckily stronger than he looked and was able to move out of the way just in time, letting the blade sink into the wooden floor. Jaune squealed in fear before looking pleadingly at the other three members of RWBY.

"Uh, Blake," Ruby said haltingly. "Can you explain what's happening right now?"

Blake tugged at the knife, which was stuck firmly into the wood. Frowning, Blake said, "Apparently, if I sacrifice someone, I'll be able to open a portal to an alternate dimension where there are endless amounts of books." With another strong tug, Blake was able to pull the blade out completely, humming in satisfaction.

Yang grabbed Blake's hand to stop her from gutting Jaune again.

"Whoa, whoa whoa. Let's calm down here and make start making sense again. How did you figure this out?" Yang asked, trying to be the calm one for once. Blake looked her straight in the eyes.

"I got it in a dream." She said.

"You… what?" Yang said numbly, completely thrown off guard.

"A dream." Blake repeated. Yang blinked rapidly for a second, trying to wrap her head around what Blake had just said.

"You know Blake, you are the last person I would have expected to do something like this because of a dream." Weiss scolded. Blake's ears flattened briefly in shame before they flicked back up in defiance.

"What about the knife?" Blake asked.

"What about it?" Weiss shot back.

"Well, after the dream, I woke up with the knife in my hand. How're you supposed to explain that?" Blake challenged smugly. Weiss just stared at Blake, unsure of what to say after that. Yang could feel a headache coming on from all of this.

 _So this is what it feels like to be Blake_ , Yang thought to herself.

"Let's just calm down. I mean, is killing a friend really worth a few books?" Yang asked. Blake shook her head adamantly.

"It's not just a few books. You didn't see what I saw. There was almost every book I could imagine, and then a few more. There was even books that weren't supposed to be out yet." Blake hissed out, "I _need_ to know what happens next in my stories!"

"You mean your smut books?" Yang asked with an eyebrow raised. While Yang and Blake were arguing, Ruby knelt down and tried to untie Jaune.

"Wow Blake, how did you learn how to tie people up so well?" Ruby asked, grunting and trying to tug open a few knots that tied up Jaune.

Blake flushed pink a little. "Books are a fountain of information." Blake said haughtily.

Ruby gave up and trying to untie Jaune by hand and pulled out Crescent Rose, quickly slamming the edge down to cut the ropes loose, making Jaune scream in fear as the blade almost grazed him.

"Perfect!" Ruby declared happily, folding Crescent Rose back again. Jaune scrambled up onto his hands and knees, before pulling off the gag and sprinting out of Team RWBY's room.

"Aw." Blake said, pouting. With the subject of sacrifice safe, the other three girls relaxed a bit before Blake turned around.

"Oh well. I was kind of hoping to use the other sacrifice anyways!" Blake said happily, procuring the next subject, lifting it up to the other three teammates' horror.

"Blake! Put Zwei down this instant!"


	9. A Warrior and His Restlessness

**A/N: A little later than usual but still Monday so yay! Let me know what you guys think about this chapter m'kay?**

 **I get the feeling that I make Jaune fight Yang waaaay too much XD**

* * *

Jaune woke up to someone shaking him.

"I'm up! I'm up!" Jaune groaned, tossing himself out of the bed. One day Jaune was going to be able to get some rest, he swore it.

Blinking blearily, Jaune's vision cleared up enough to see that his three roommates were standing beside him, all dressed in their fighting gear. Even Nora wasn't really smiling.

Yikes.

"Did something happen?" Jaune asked worriedly. Maybe nothing had actually happened. Maybe they were just standing like that because they wanted to go out of the Emerald Forest today to hunt some Grimm. Maybe Nora _finally_ ate way too many pancakes and couldn't stand the pain of smiling anymore.

Oh who was he kidding? The world was probably about to explode or something like that.

It was never something simple with Team JNPR _or_ Team RWBY. It was like some cosmic power was trying to make them suffer.

Jaune didn't take any time to pause for the answer, brushing past the three of them to shuck off his onesie and put on his own gear.

Pyrrha's grim look didn't change when she broke the news to Jaune.

"Imaar is laying siege to Vacuo." She said. Jaune stopped putting on his bracers to think about that.

"Like… all of it?" Jaune asked incredulously. Vacuo was a huge kingdom. How could one person take all of it? Jaune recalled Imaar, and remembered the immense force of Grimm that he had gathered around Beacon.

How powerful was Imaar? How many Grimm could he control to be trying to attack all of Vacuo? Jaune's head raised a little, trying to find what little hope to attach to.

"He can't really be… winning though, right? I mean, there's so many Hunters there and…" Jaune trailed off at the sight of the other's faces, seeing nothing that could turn Jaune's hopes into reality. Which was… pretty much expected out of them.

"Vacuo has been losing ground since early in the morning apparently," Ren said seriously. "Hunters as well the Vacuo military and any civilian who has volunteered to take arms has rallied against the hordes of Grimm, but…" Ren paused.

"Vacuo has been reduced to half its size in about eight hours." Pyrrha finished quietly.

What?

Jaune couldn't even comprehend that. Vacuo wasn't the largest kingdom around, but it was still a kingdom… and to lost half of it in less than half a day? That was bordering impossible.

Jaune fumbled with his other bracer, making it drop onto the floor.

"That's crazy." Jaune muttered, bending over to pick up the fallen object. No one needed to say anything for Jaune to know that they all agreed with him.

There was quiet while Jaune finished fastening his bracer and taking Crocea Mors from his bedside and strapping it onto his hips.

"Where are all the people running to?" Jaune asked. By the sound of how fast the inquisition was going, Jaune wasn't sure what the logistics were for everyone to be moved to a safer place. Luckily for Jaune, that wasn't really a problem.

"They aren't running." Nora said quietly, making Jaune's blood freeze.

"They're being slaughtered on the spot," Pyrrha elaborated. "The people who can find a way to run faster than the Grimm are converging onto Shade." _For their last stand_. It wasn't necessary for Pyrrha to say the last part, knowing that Jaune understood.

"I-isn't there a way to evacuate the people?" Jaune stuttered, still not completely over the shock of being told that there was a massive wave of death that was exterminating the people of Vacuo. Pyrrha stepped up and laid a hand on the shell-shocked Jaune as reassuringly as she possibly could. It didn't really make Jaune feel any better.

"Jaune. There are millions of people there." Pyrrha winced, reluctant to be the bearer of anymore bad news. "There aren't even enough Bullheads to take a hundred thousand of them out of there."

Jaune finally collapsed onto the floor, the news destroying any strength he had in his legs.

"T-that can't be…" Jaune said. His teammates didn't say anything, merely standing there in support of Jaune, knowing what he was going through, as they had went through the same thing only a few minutes ago. Finally, Jaune snapped out of his reverie.

"What are we doing to help?" Jaune demanded, ready to stop wasting time and find a way to help all those people out. Pyrrha, Ren, and Nora all looked at each other, silently having a conversation that Jaune couldn't pick up. An insidious thought crossed Jaune's mind.

" _Are_ we helping them?" Jaune asked, fear clutching his chest. The three stood there awkwardly, not sure what to say.

"Well…" Ren said, trailing as he wasn't sure what he could say that would make anything better. Jaune had enough of them tiptoeing around the issue.

"Guys. What has Professor Ozpin told us to do?" Juane demanded. Pyrrha finally decided to break it to him.

"He…" Pyrrha started uncertainly, before seeing Jaune's face, a cross between determined and angry. Pyrrha sighed.

"He hasn't said anything about it."

* * *

If the door to Ozpin's office wasn't part of the elevator doors, Jaune would have slammed them open in anger.

"Professor! Why aren't we helping—" Jaune stopped mid stomp, seeing that the professor had company.

"Ah, Team JNPR. I had a feeling that you guys would come visit me as well." Ozpin said, looking at Jaune calmly.

In front of Ozpin was Team RWBY, as well as a Hunter that was Ruby's uncle if Jaune could remember correctly, as well as the general of the Atlas army. As always, Professor Goodwitch was standing beside Ozpin.

"Oh." Jaune deflated a little, the winds taken from out of his sails.

"Oh indeed," Ozpin said, though not unkindly. "Why don't you and your team come closer, it would be easier explaining this to both teams now rather than separately."

And with that, all the righteous anger that Jaune had was completely wiped away as he walked up to stand next to Team RWBY.

"So you had the same idea, huh?" Yang ribbed gently with a soft grin. Even Yang could really feel the mood though, and didn't really seem like she was going to do anything energetic. Jaune nodded.

"Yeah. Weiss tell you guys?" Jaune asked casually. Yang nodded.

"Yeah. The whole team told you?" She asked back. Jaune ignored the implications that the sentence seemed to carry and just nodded.

"Now that everyone is here, I'm going to get started and assume that both teams are here to ask me why I haven't sent any teams to help out with the Vacuo incursion?"

They all nodded.

Ozpin nodded along with them, lifting his mug up to his lips.

"That's because I am not going to." Ozpin said simply.

The room was filled with stunned silence after that declaration. No one on either team was sure if they heard that right. Looking back and forth at each other, it took almost a whole minute for the information to sink in and there to be an uproar.

"What do you mean?" Ruby yelled out while Yang banged on the desk, furious. Blake and Weiss looked absolutely irate, only their reserved nature preventing them from causing as much of a scene as their partners. However, even those two held aggressive stances, angry at the statement. Jaune's team wasn't faring much better, as Nora pulled out Magnhild and was threatening to break Professor Ozpin's legs with it.

Professor Ozpin on the other hand, was calm, sipping on his mug and waiting for the room to quiet down. The other three adults in the room also stayed quiet, waiting for the unruly children to calm down.

Children they were, but the group was also Hunters and Huntresses-in-training. It didn't take long for them to tap into their discipline and stop with the outrage, deciding that logically, the Headmaster had to have some reason he wasn't going to help a neighboring kingdom out. When the whole room was finally quiet enough to hear oneself think, Professor Ozpin began to talk.

"Thank you." Ozpin said quietly. "I know that all of you are eager to help, especially you, Mr. Arc. But," The professor paused before continuing, "You will be of no help there."

Jaune wasn't one to talk back to his teachers, but with the feeling that he had direct responsibility on what was happening at that moment, he couldn't help but ask why not.

"Think for a minute, all of you here. How long would it take to mobilize every person here to get into trains and Bullheads and get you all to Vacuo?" The Professor asked. Gazes fell to the floor as they realized the logistics of it.

Beacon was at least two hours away from the nearest broders of Vacuo. This wasn't even going to be accounting for the time it would take to gather everyone, prep them and organize them sufficiently enough for transport. Five, maybe four hours would be a miracle that probably wouldn't be pulled off.

No one in that room was stupid. It wasn't a far stretch of the imagination to believe that in four hours, Vacuo could be gone.

"So why can't we just send a few of us?" Yang asked quietly. This time, it was her uncle who answered in a gentle tone.

"Look kiddo, I know you want to do the right thing." He said, "But honestly, unless we take every single person who can fight, I don't think we'll make a difference." Qrow shrugged, knowing that what he was saying was harsh, but necessary. "And even then, I'm still not sure we can go up against what's been invading Vacuo."

This time Ruby spoke up.

"Surely there can't be that many?" She asked, her voice filled with a little hope.

It didn't take long for the hope to be blown away when Qrow just shook his head sadly, before nudging Professor Ozpin. Ozpin leaned forward a little and reached out, pressing a button which let a screen pop out to the side of him, showing a massive black screen.

"This is what you're going up against." Qrow said somberly.

Nothing but black was shown on the screen. For a minute, the kids in the room weren't even sure if anything was being shown until Pyrrha gasped, along with everyone else in the room. A few spires from taller buildings popped out, which showed that they weren't just looking at a blank screen.

What they saw in front of them was a roiling mass of Grimm, so thick that no one could see anything but black, and a few buildings that were able to poke out of the crowd of monsters.

The group of students just stood there, watching the screen in shock. What made it worse was that this wasn't a picture, but a video feed. The tall buildings only helped point out that whatever was recording this was moving, and no matter where it was going, all it saw was a sea of black. The feed finally cut off, and this time, it was the General of Atlas do decided to speak to the kids in front of him.

"As you can see, there are more Grimm there than anyone could ever imagine. I appreciate the fact that all of you want to help, but does anyone here really think that you can do anything to stop what is going to happen anymore than the people who are fighting for their lives at this moment?" General Ironwood asked.

No one said anything, not even bothering to answer the question. They knew that they were outmatched here. One by one they slumped down a little, their flaming spirits soaked in cold dejection as they saw something that they couldn't fix.

"I understand that you all have your concerns." Ozpin said after a brief silence, "But do not think that we aren't doing anything. Get back to your dorms everyone, classes are cancelled for the day. Get some rest." Ozpin glanced down over his glasses at the kids there. "You may just get what you've been asking for. Just not now."

With that final word, everyone filtered out slowly, a few turning back to look at the adults standing there impassively.

Jaune paused at the doorway to the elevator and glanced back at Professor Ozpin, who was also looking intently at Jaune. Jaune could feel the intensity of Ozpin's stare, and was half a second from asking if the headmaster needed anything before Professor Ozpin waved his hand, shooing Jaune away.

* * *

"What do you think's going to happen?" Yang asked.

The eight of them had decided to hang out in Team RWBY's room, some pacing a little restlessly, some relaxing on the beds and floors, while others were simply… well, Nora.

"I don't know," Weiss said, one of the few that was pacing relentlessly, intent on burning a pathway on the wooden floors.

"What I do know is that there is no way they will decide to not help at all." Weiss said, not really concentrating on herself, but more of the walls around her.

"Well, what can we really do?" Blake asked dubiously. "Even if every single person here was a fully trained Hunter, I don't think we could even make a dent in something like that. I mean, did you see that?" She asked.

"Of course we saw that. Everyone saw that." Jaune said, only a few shades away from snapping at Blake, who stopped and turned to Jaune in surprise. Along with her, everyone else also turned to look at Jaune, who normally wasn't the first one to go and get angry. Jaune took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down, and push the feeling of needing to go out and kill something.

He only partially succeeded, but it was enough for Jaune to mutter a sorry before picking himself up and leaving with the excuse of needing fresh air.

Jaune walked out of there in a hurry, leaving quickly enough that even Pyrrha couldn't ask her usual motherly questions of whether or not Jaune was okay.

As Jaune left, the conversation seemed to lull a little before Yang also picked herself up.

"I think I need some fresh air too." Yang said before exiting the room.

Jaune hadn't really gone far, having only moved to the end of the hallway.

Jaune was heaving large breaths, trying to keep something down. It was a sickly feeling rising up in his chest, making him want to scream and run and fight and _hurt_. Jaune's hand rested on the pommel of Crocea Mors, in hopes that Jaune could concentrate and be able to talk to his friendly neighborhood dragon residing inside of him.

 _Vedrahgol?_

Jaune's internal question finally stirred the irate dragon into action.

 ** _Finally! What took you so long to get in touch with me?_**

Jaune winced at the angry voice. _Sorry, I was a little preoccupied at the moment._ Vedrahgol seemed to scoff at that.

 ** _Busy? Please, what's busier than trying to figure out how to prevent Hermaeus Mora from killing you?_**

Jaune paused.

 _Trying to stop his champion from killing me?_

 ** _Bah, Imaar? He's a third rate Dragon Priest, didn't even do a good job at sacrificing for the Dov._**

Jaune was about to ask what the hell a Dragon Priest was before he suddenly had flashes of memories that weren't really his.

Jaune could see people dressed like Imaar, wandering around and praying to the Dragons they so worshipped. He could see their devotion, to the point where they bound themselves through life and death to their masters.

He could see all of it.

Well, not all of it. It was brief, but meaningful, and allowed Jaune enough understanding to follow what Vedrahgol was trying to say. All in all, not knowing something for one instance, then suddenly knowing it was a disorienting feeling.

A hand rested on Jaune's shoulder.

Turning, he could see Yang, who looked concerned about how Jaune was hunched over and clutching his head.

"You alright there Jauney?" She asked. Jaune gave a weak thumbs up.

"Yeah I'm just feeling a little…" Jaune tried to find the right words to describe how he was feeling.

"Restless? Like you wanna punch someone and scream and go crazy?" Yang asked drily. Jaune gaped at Yang, not sure how she understood how Jaune was pretty much exactly feeling. Yang could clearly see the unspoken question that Jaune wanted to ask.

"Ever since we've fought together, you've got this caged look that seems like you've got too much energy. You seem more… wild, I guess?" Yang said.

"How would you know?" Jaune asked, but trying not to be defensive about it. Yang rubbed her arm, mirroring Jaune when he's in an awkward state of mind.

"I used to have that look a lot. Back when I just unlocked my semblance." Yang explained. "All of that energy and… and strength was just something I didn't know what to do with."

Jaune didn't say anything to that.

"Is your semblance the same way?" Yang continued, asking Jaune. Jaune was about to shrug, still not sure what he knew about his semblance.

 ** _This restlessness is part of my blood, Maldovah. As my strength becomes your strength, my blood becomes yours._**

Jaune jumped at Vedrahgol's sudden intrusion in his conversation, causing Yang to look at Jaune. Jaune gave a wooden smile and mumbled something as an excuse before speaking up.

"Uh, yeah, I think so." Jaune answered. Yang nodded, happy that she got that right.

"Well, before I could figure out how to control my crazy energy so I didn't want to punch everything, I figured out a way to… at least settle the feeling down for a little while." Yang said. "Do you want to try it?"

Jaune scratched the back of his head, happy that Yang was offering, but also a little confused as to why Yang was going out of her way to do something like that.

"Uh, sure, I guess." Jaune said. Yang gave a grin and grabbed onto Jaune's hand, tugging him in her direction.

"Well then, let's go!" She said happily, dragging Jaune to a location unknown to him.

"Wait, where're we going?" Jaune asked, confused.

"To the ring!" Yang exclaimed, giving Jaune a grin. "We're gonna spar the energy outta ya!"

Jaune could only whimper in fear.

* * *

 **A/N: Muahaha I love making Jaune suffer :3**

 **'nyways, onto the Omake!**

* * *

"I'm bored." Blake said, putting down her finished book. Yang and Weiss were snuggled to the side of the library, reading a book together, completely enraptured. Blake looked towards Ruby, who had her head buried in a weapon's manual. Blake shook Ruby's shoulders to gather her attention.

"Hm? Is there something you need Blake?" Ruby said distractedly, her eyes still glued onto the book.

"I think I'm ready to go back home." Blake said. Ruby nodded, still not a 100% into the conversation that she was supposed to be having with Blake.

"Yeah, yeah, I got it Blake. Just let me finish this book, there's like, tons of amazing stuff here that I've never seen and yeah..." Ruby said, trailing of before leaving Blake alone again. Blake stood there, a little miffed that Ruby seemed more interested in staying here than listening to her. Giving up on Ruby, Blake turned to Yang and Weiss.

"Guys? Let's head home now." Blake shouted across the large room to them. The two girls didn't bother replying at all, simply giggling at something before turning to the next page. Blake looked between the two of them, before bracing herself and getting closer to the pair.

"Weiss? Yang? Let's go home." Blake repeated again. There was, once again, no answer from the two of them. Finally, Blake had it and grabbed the book out of their hands, making them both whine in protest.

"Hey!" Weiss said angrily, while Yang simply frowned at Blake.

"Come on guys, didn't you guys want to go home as soon as possible after we got here? What's so interesting that you guys... really?" Blake said in a deadpan voice, holding up the book that they were reading, _1001 Punny Jokes._ Weiss simply flushed a dark red while Yang grinned at Blake.

"I would expect this from Yang, but not you Weiss. Really?" Blake asked sadly. Weiss turned haughtily at Blake, which would have been more effective if she didn't stutter trying to defend herself.

"I-I have no idea what y-you're talking about. I just think we have to use the time we have allotted effectively. After all, we don't want Cardin's death to be all for nothing now would we?" Weiss asked rhetorically. Rhetorically it was asked, but Blake answered anyways.

"We would have killed him for candy bar if the opportunity came up!" Blake said angrily.

"Even so Blake," Weiss said. "Every life is worth something." And with that, Weiss snatched the book out of Blake's hand, opening it back up to where she had left off. Yang kept her smug grin directed at Blake.

"Yeah Blake, why don't you just find another book to read?" Yang teased. "Or is it that Blake Bella- _donna_ what to read?" Yang spread her hands out dramatically, smiling at what she probably thought was her funniest pun yet.

Blake certainly wasn't laughing.

"I- There's just nothing for me to read." Blake huffed out, pointedly ignoring Yang's overdramatic gesturing towards the enormous library around them. Yang sighed, pitying Blake's lack of interest in her reading.

"Blake, you have to realize that while you have read all of the smut in the library, there are plenty of other books to read." Yang said.

"There was barely a bookcase full of them! And they are not smut!" Blake hissed out. Yang waved her hand dismissively at Blake before turning her attention on the book again, giggling at a particularly funny joke.

Blake groaned and fell to her knees, defeated by the spectacle of her teammates enjoying being in the library more than she was.

It was a wish come true that Blake wished she never wished for.

Somewhere on the world of Nirn, Clavicus Vile was chuckling evilly, trading high fives/tentacles with Hermaeus Mora.


	10. Jaune and The Fighter Round 2!

**A/N: Hey hey! Welcome to the world of AIS! I am writing this because I have nothing else to say!**

Cain: I like how you think that... you might be a little wrong though ;)

* * *

You know, I really don't think this is a good idea…" Jaune said watching Yang open her bracelets up to her gauntlets. Yang grinned happily at Jaune.

"I think it's a great idea! We don't want you to keep being so restless and end up hurting someone you don't want to hurt now, do you?" Yang asked seriously. Jaune winced, knowing that he was caught. With a sigh Jaune pulled out Crocea Mors, opening up the sheathe into a shield and getting into a suitable position. Yang jumped up in joy and got into her boxing position, ready to duke it out with Jaune.

Brushing away the dread of fighting someone so out of his league twice a week, Jaune focused intently on Yang and her figure. The way she was standing, that is. Her stance. Fighting… stance. Right.

The brief distraction was enough to slow Jaune's reaction time just enough not to be able to react to Yang's charge. Before Jaune unlocked his semblance, Jaune would have only had his shield to block Yang's attack. Now he had several other tricks up his sleeve.

With a sharp intake of breath, Jaune quickly shouted.

"Fus Ro Dah!"

The shockwave traveled quickly. However, while Yang might not have been the brightest bulb in the classroom, fighting was something that she excelled in. Yang wasn't dumb enough to be caught in something like that again.

With a quick flurry of feet, Yang dove to the side, trying to move out of the way of the shockwave. Unfortunately for her, there wasn't an exact measurement that Yang could side step, and got grazed by the edge of the blast.

Instead of being completely blown back by the wave however, Yang was able to manage a simple side-step, dropping her guard and trying not to get flung somewhere.

Jaune could see the brief opening and pounced on it, charging forward faster than he ever had before, brandishing the sword horizontally. Yang was quick to recover, and leapt backwards, pulling her fists up into a boxer's stance just in time for the sword to meet her face. Metal screamed on metal as the weapons met each other and Yang took a shaky step back.

 _Dust!_ Yang thought to herself. Jaune had suddenly grown so much stronger so quickly!

Trying to trip Jaune up, Yang tried to jab forwards, making Jaune tilt back just a fraction of an inch. It was hard to feel smug at the dodge when Yang fired a full shell into Jaune's face though, blasting him backwards.

With a groan Jaune picked himself up, trying to locate his sword and shield. He only had enough time to grab the sword though, as Yang was on top of him by that point, getting ready to perform another flurry of blows.

Thinking on his feet, Jaune let his training do the work and flicked the sword to the left and right, parrying the gauntlets when Jaune couldn't dodge the onslaught.

 _I need a little help here_. Jaune thought a little desperately, losing a lot of ground backing up and trying not to get struck again. Vedrahgol gave a little chuckle.

 ** _Try this._** The dragon said before relaying three words to Jaune. The instant the words filtered through Jaune's mind, the meanings became clear to him. Jaune didn't just understand what the words _meant_ , but also what the words _did_.

 _Air._

 _Battle._

 _Grace._

Armed with new knowledge of the semblance, Jaune took a deep breath in. Yang reacted instantly, pushing herself backwards to prepare herself for another gale of wind.

"Su Grah Dun!" Jaune barked out, feeling power flow through his arms. With a grin on his face, and a look of confusion on Yang's, Jaune charged forward, ready to turn the tables.

With a clang of metal on metal, Jaune struck one of Yang's gauntlets, which Yang retaliated with a punch towards Jaune. Faster than the eye could see, Crocea Mors flickered and parried the gauntlet before flashing forwards again. Yang didn't even have time to react, it was that fast.

Yang reared back and fell onto her butt, stunned at the speed. What she didn't expect however, was Jaune to press his advantage.

Jaune Arc had always been a gentleman. In life as well as fighting, Jaune would never do anything untoward. On the rare occasions that he was able to push an opponent back, Jaune stopped himself and rose to a defensive position, waiting for the opponent to recover.

This time was different.

Jaune didn't know why but he felt so… thrilled at the fight. Blood was rushing through his ears and his heartbeat seemed to be beating twice as face. Everything was so clear and for once, Jaune was _confident_.

With a snarl, Jaune thrust forward again, striking Yang. She cried out and rolled away, hands up in a defensive stance.

"Jaune…?" Yang asked cautiously. Jaune didn't reply, taking slow measured breaths while twirling the sword. Taking a few casual steps, Jaune got closer and closer to Yang, making her tense up at every step.

Once Yang entered into Jaune's range, he struck out again, another short and powerful thrust toward Yang's face. This time, with proper preparation, Yang raised a gauntlet up and shot forward, meeting the sword halfway and taking most of the force out of the blow. With the unexpected movement, Jaune stopped long enough for Yang to punch Jaune in the chest once, before twirling around and delivering a spinning kick to the head.

Jaune groaned from his spot on the floor, picking himself up slowly while blinking spots out of his eyes. When his vision cleared, Jaune saw Yang rushing towards him, ready to lay the smack down on Jaune. With no more time to react, Jaune opened his mouth, ready to use his primary shout to buy him time.

Instead, Jaune's throat tightened and Jaune couldn't even breathe out another word. Frozen, Jaune could only receive another full forced punch from a fiery Yang, blasting Jaune yards backwards.

 _What the heck_? Jaune wondered, blindly trying to grope for Crocea Mors. Finally locating his sword, a rush of sound entered into his mind.

 ** _You do realize you can't use your shouts so close to each other, right?_**

 _What?! Where's this written? Why? That's ridiculous!_

Jaune could feel the mental shrug from Vedrahgol, while the strength from Jaune's arms seemed to seep out of him.

 ** _Humans apparently cannot handle the power of our language perfectly. Your body seems to have a way to automatically stop you from tearing yourself apart._**

 _You can tear yourself apart with the shout?!_

 ** _I dunno. I'm a dragon._**

"Of course you are." Jaune muttered.

 _How do I know when I can… shout? Is that the word for it? Yeah. When can I shout again?_

Vedrahgol fell silent as he thought carefully about the question before answering.

 ** _I dunno._**

"Oh Oum's dusty pants." Jaune bit out, absolutely at the end of his chain. At this point in time Jaune was just hoping he wouldn't end up a paste on the floor, knowing that the chances of Yang calming down are next to slim.

Without a further thought, Jaune dove for his shield and rolled to the side, away from Yang's shotgun blasts trailing him. Bullets scattered against the shield as Jaune kept it in front of him, knowing that Yang would be advancing while she was blasting the shots away.

 _Please tell me you have something else up your sleeve._ Jaune begged Vedrahgol.

 ** _I do not have any sleeves maldovah. But if you are asking if I have anything that may aid you to get out of this situation, I do._**

Jaune perked up, ready to try and turn the tables on Yang.

 ** _… But if you cannot shout that the only advice I have for you is to win._**

Yang smashed into Jaune's shield, making him fall back a few steps. Jaune tried to counter with a few twirls of his sword, to make the cuts a little less predictable, but without whatever it was that was boosting his speed a few seconds ago, Yang dodged everything with ease.

 _You are absolutely useless!_ Jaune thought angrily. Vedrahgol just drew out an irritated breath and decided not to say anything to that.

Without any other external help, Jaune had to fall back to just his sword fighting, which, while greatly improved, still would not beat Yang in a straight up fight.

Slowly but surely Jaune was pushed further and further back, desperately trying to find a way to at least survive a little longer, even if he knew he couldn't win.

Yang on the other hand, was relentless. Knowing what happened last time when she dropped her guard, Yang wasn't going to be caught off unawares again. With another roar, Yang punched through Jaune's guard, burying her fist into his stomach and making Jaune fly all the way to the other side of the arena.

"Hah! I knew it was a fluke!" Yang said, celebrating at her win, raising both of her gauntlet-clad hands into the sky. Jaune just groaned in pain, trying to sort out his thoughts that were mixed in with extreme pain.

Now that the fight was over, Yang walked over to make sure that Jaune was alright. Kneeling down next to him, Yang laid a hand on his shoulder.

"You alright there lover-boy?" Yang asked kindly.

"Never… better…" Jaune wheezed, sucking in as much air as he could. Yang chuckled sheepishly.

"I probably hit you way too hard didn't I? Sorry about that." Yang said. Jaune just shook his head.

"No, I'm glad that you fought… hard…" Jaune coughed a little, finally finding a way to keep the air in his lungs, his breathing shuddering back to normal. "It was a good way to find out what my limits were." Jaune said. Yang nodded, frowning a little.

"Speaking of limits, what was up with your semblance?" Yang asked. "I mean, can you really only use it twice or something before it runs out? I've never seen that happen before." Jaune shook his head.

"Apparently my semblance is so powerful that my body is forcing me not to use it too quickly." Jaune answered promptly. Yang raised an eyebrow.

"Really now? And who told you all of that?" Yang asked teasingly, not really believing that Jaune would say something like that without thinking that it was the truth. Jaune wasn't the type to really brag about anything. Pretend to be a hot, manly stud maybe. But not anything about his fighting.

Jaune, on the other hand, froze for a second, having forgotten that he hadn't told anybody that he had a dragon inside of him that was telling him everything about his semblance.

"I… uh—well, you see…" Jaune tried to find a good excuse to give Yang, floundering about. The longer it took him to answer the question, the more curious Yang got about Jaune's source of information.

 ** _Why don't you just tell the little whelp?_** Vedrahgol asked Jaune. Vedrahgol continued his reasoning before Jaune could object. **_What would be the harm in telling her anyways? She has known you for quite a while, has she not? And you and your many servants have faced stranger, have they not?_**

Jaune opened his mouth… then closed it again, giving the point to Vedrahgol. The old dragon wasn't wrong. Finally, Jaune decided to go out on a limb and tell Yang.

"I... my semblance is a little strange." Jaune started to explain.

"You can say that again." Yang agreed, crossing her arms, waiting for an explanation. Jaune continued.

"So, apparently, something happened when I was younger and a… uh, dragon… was mixed in with my soul. And he talks to me in my head. And that's how I get all my information." Jaune said, finishing confidently.

Yang blinked her eyes once, twice.

"What." Yang said flatly. Jaune smiled in a confused manner.

"You don't get it?" Jaune asked. Yang put a palm onto her face, wondering if that last punch had taken more than just wind out of Jaune.

"Okay." Yang said, trying to piece together Jaune's explanation. "What you're saying is that you have a dragon… inside of you?" Yang stopped, making sure that what she was saying was right. Jaune nodded, allowing Yang to continue. "And this dragon talks to you about your semblance?" Yang finished.

Jaune nodded. "Yep. I don't see what's so hard to get."

Yang sighed exasperatedly.

"I don't know if I knocked some of my crazy into you or if you've always been this crazy. You do realize that this sounds absolutely nuts, right?" Yang asked Jaune.

"I… yes." Jaune said, embarrassed.

"How does this work?" Yang asked him. Jaune shrugged.

"I have absolutely no idea. It just does. Vedrahgol—that's the dragon's name by the way—is pretty much explaining everything to me on the fly. The weird thing is, some of the stuff that he says, I sort of already kind of understand, like flash memories, you know? I think that has something to do with the book that I read, the Oghma Infinitum, which kind of gave me knowledge of the world that the dragon belongs to, which is the world of Nirn, and—"

"Whoa, alright, stop." Yang said, holding out her hands to signal Jaune to stop talking. "I had no idea what you just said. Are you saying that the dragon is from another world? And what's all of this about a book? You've lost me here Tornado-mouth." Yang said.

Jaune drew in a breath to try and slowly explain everything to Yang again when Ren's head popped through the door to the training arena.

"Jaune? Yang? We need you back now." Ren said quietly, seriously. To Yang, Ren was always this reserved guy, so she took it as nothing but a simple request. Jaune however, had spent a whole year with the quiet boy, and knew by the air around Ren that something big had come up.

"Is something wrong Ren?" Jaune asked worriedly. Ren looked at the two of them with dark eyes.

"Vacuo has fallen." Ren murmured, before leaving, closing the door on the two shocked blondes.

* * *

 **OMAKE**

* * *

"Where the hell am I?"

Cardin looked around and tried to survey the area, but as far as he could tell, the only thing that he could say for certain was... well, he wasn't in Remnant anymore.

A constant rolling field of grass, along with trees and sounds of nature reminded Cardin of the Emerald Forest, but without the daunting aura that's always surrounding it.

Cardin took a step forward, and jumped up at the sight of a person appearing out of thin air, face covered with a horned mask.

"Huh-hey! Nice to meetcha!" The man held out his hand, looking more like an appealing salesman than one of the Princes. "My name's, well, it's a little long, so you can just call me... Clay."

"Clay?" Cardin asked, staring at the hand. When in doubt, a person will fall onto his baser personality and instincts. With Cardin, he got meaner, puffed out his chest, and tried to be the most intimidating and dangerous being around. Normally that wouldn't be such a bad thing to do when surrounded by the unknown.

When Cardin was facing The Dark Prince of Dark Deals and such, it could only be called a cute attempt.

"What's going on here?" Cardin said, chest absurdly forward, ignoring Clay's hand. With a slight pout, the man put his hand back down, but quickly smiled again, even though the mask covered all his expressions.

"Well Cardy- Can I call you that? I'll just call you that." The Daedric Prince said hurriedly before the Hunter-in-training could say anything. "You're here because you're... well, you're dead kiddo." Clay shrugged. "Sorry to say that man."

"I'm what?" Cardin repeated slowly.

"Oh well, it's a long story involving books, a khajit that's more girl than cat, Hermy (but don't call him that, he get's real moody), and a sacrificial ritual where you got a huuuge knife slammed into your chest!" Clay mouthed a few more words, looking down at his fingers to see if he had said everything. "Yep, that's about it!"

Cardin could just continue staring at the man in disbelief.

"I-I can't be dead." Cardin insisted. Clay laughed out loud. .

"Oh really? Then what the heck is that then?" Clay said, pointing to Cardin's chest. When the Hunter looked down, he shrieked in surprise at seeing what was practically a river of blood flowing from a huge wound. Suddenly the wound disappeared, Clay laughing even harder.

"Ah ha, oh ho, ahhh." Clay laughed, slapping his knee. "Yeah that was just a prank kiddo. Well, that part is. You _are_ dead, but eh, whatever."

Cardin looked at Clay in disbelief and rising anger, standing up to his full height and pulling out his mace.

"Alright that's enough games. Bring me back or else." Cardin threatened. The Prince ignored the threat and looked carefully at the weapon held in front of him.

"Wow, that's a neat looking mace. You know, I've got a cousin's cousin's cousin who has a mace too, 'cept it's green and glowy." Clay said.

Cardin faltered for a second, not sure what to do when the person you threatened completely disregards a threat. Clay just continued to talk, feeling a little sorry for the guy.

"Alright alright, enough games, I guess. I was just having a little fun, I'm sure you can understand." Clay said, waving his hands. Cardin still kept his frown, and his mace was still up and ready to fight. Clay gave a loud sigh.

"Alright, you know what? How abbout this," Clay said, before raising his hands. A whirling storm whipped around the man, thunder clapping and Clay's voice becoming ethereal. "I am a god, and for putting up with me, I will grant you one wish of your desires. Simply name it, and I will grant it."

Cardin stared at the figure, his mace slipping through his fingers. With a vicious grin, Cardin nodded in happiness, something finally going his way.

Clavicus Vile could barely hold his glee.


	11. Ozpin and the Plan

**A/N: Not as great of a chapter as I would like but... oh well. The best I could do. Here's a few people who still don't have a Fanfiction account yet.**

 **I mean, why?**

 **Guest : Very Recklessly**

 **Cain : Thank you! And you're totally right!**

 **Enjoy.**

* * *

After the Grimm dispersed from the Vacuo lands, the kingdom looked as bare as a desert.

Jaune and company looked at the live footage that was captured after Shade had surrendered, and only saw horror. For miles upon miles, there was almost no one alive. So many bodies were spread around, half desecrated. Nothing was intact within the borders except the shining school of Shade.

But even though Shade was still intact, it was broken. One could look at the school and see the destroyed spirit it held, along with the dejection and pain the school contained. It only grew worse from there.

After Imaar landed down next to the Headmaster of Shade, he drew his wicked blade, dark as night, and swept it across the headmaster's neck. The students were in an uproar, having to witness the death of their headmaster, many of them ready to kill Imaar.

Imaar didn't even bother with defending himself, turning to the crowd and speaking, his voice reverberating throughout the halls, deafening some, and turning the blood of whoever listening cold.

"You will all be more useful to me dead." Imaar said slowly.

"Rii Vaaz Zol!"

A ripple of air passed throughout the standing students, And as the wave reached the students, their eyes rolled to the back of their heads, the legs giving way from underneath them. Each and every soul that the words of power touched, were torn from their bodies, instantly killing the kids.

That wasn't the worst part.

As suddenly as every life was ripped away, the life was returned to them, painfully. Everybody who had died just seconds before screamed in agony, before being lifted to their feet, eyes glowing purple, thin cracks of the same color showing on their bodies.

Everyone watching from their scrolls couldn't even breath at this point, horrified by the amount of power Imaar had just demonstrated.

The Rider stood in the center of the group of reanimated bodies and looked at his army, before looking at the drones that were recording this spectacle.

"This will not be the end. Tomorrow, I march to North."

And with that, Imaar widened his stance, bellowing a shout that blasted the drones backwards, destroying them in the process.

Jaune stared at the static on his screen, dead on the inside.

How many people did Imaar just kill? And what did he do to them? What did they suddenly become?

Every time that Jaune looked at Imaar, he was reminded by the mere amount of difference in power that the two of them had.

 _I need to be stronger._

"Well. That was a thing." Yang choked out. Unlike the other times she said it, which was mostly out of humor, this one was filled to the brim with dark emotions. A silence that could only be described as dead filled the room, the eight bright students finally met with an amount of destruction that none of them could really cope with. No one could say a thing, and even the most happy-go-lucky people there were struck silent.

It was a travesty, and one could only imagine what the rest of Remnant's reactions might be to the scene.

Finally, Jaune stood up, causing everybody to turn to Jaune. Without a word, Jaune simply grabbed Crocea Mors and left the room, talking to Vedrahgol in the process.

 _What kind of power was that?_ Jaune asked, hoping that his dragon-soul would have a suitable answer.

 ** _In your tongue, they call it Soul Tear, which rips the essence out of a man's body, only to enthrall the soul into a lifetime of servitude._** Vedrahgol replied gravely.

 _What kind of power is he holding, to be able to do something like that?_ Jaune asked, partly rhetorical. Vedrahgol knew that Jaune was simply in shock, but answered him anyways, eager to show Jaune that the power he held wasn't something as simple as a tornado phrase.

 ** _The power that Imaar is holding, the same power that you have maldovah, is the power of reality itself._** Vedrahgol said, needing to get through to Jaune. **_What you have unlocked is the tiniest of what Jul, man, can do with this power, which is even_ less _than a_ fraction _of what a Dovah is able to do with the power of the tongue._**

 _And what is this power?_ Jaune finally asked, starting to understand that this wasn't something that he could pass off as a semblance any longer. This was something more, something dangerous that can't be pushed off as something useless.

Vedrahgol breathed out a sigh of relief, happy now that Jaune was serious and considering this power as something destructive and dangerous.

 ** _This power is a gift from the gods, placed down to us for the use of the fabric of reality. Every word that you utter in this language with intent becomes a Thu'um, a Shout. With this shout, you can turn the world into your plaything, make anything out of anything, and impose your will to shape what you desire._**

 ** _This is the power of the Voice_. ** Vedrahgol said.

Jaune raised a hand up to touch his throat. That's the kind of power he had? Jaune could change… the world with his shout?

 _H-how does it work?_

 ** _No one truly knows maldovah. It just seems as though we are commanding the world to bend to our will, and the world simply kneels and does what we desire. The Voice is simply our way of commanding reality._**

Jaune gulped hard, thinking of the implications of that power.

 _S-surely there are limitations?_ Vedrahgol nodded at the question.

 ** _For a dragon? No. There are no limitations to this power. It is, after all, our gift. A human, however, does not have the grace of a dragon, nor our inert strength, and the Voice will simply tear apart the inexperienced._**

Jaune was felt… better at that statement. That meant that Imaar simply couldn't just use that power repeatedly over and over again. After all, that would be impossible to beat.

 ** _…Of course, one can devote their life to training their Voice, and can withstand more than the average human._** Vedrahgol added helpfully.

And with that, Jaune's small bit of hope was crushed. Someone like Imaar wouldn't squander an opportunity and power like this one. Imaar probably had trained to his wits' ends to master the Voice. But with that Jaune thought up of a question which instilled way more hope than it should have.

 _Can a shout counter another shout?_ Jaune asked, hopeful for a good answer.

Vedrahgol knew the answer to this question, but did not want to instill Jaune with any sense of false hope.

 ** _Yes, maldovah, one can stop another's Thu'um from its intended purpose._**

 ** _But the ability to do so is something one must practice greatly, and would disallow you to use shouts as frequently, as you are using your strength simply to block someone else's._**

Jaune took all this advice and information to heart, finally knowing what he needed to do to get anywhere near Imaar.

 _I need to get stronger. And I need to practice my semb—I need to master the Voice. Will you teach me?_

Vedrahgol smiled inside his enclosed cavern, every teeth revealed glinting in the light.

 ** _Maldovah, I thought you would never ask_.**

Jaune gave a sigh of relief, finally happy that he had something planned out for the future. Interrupting the mental celebration was Pyrrha appearing beside Jaune, laying a hand on his shoulder.

"Jaune, we need you." Pyrrha said quietly, making Jaune turn a little to face her.

"What's happening?" Jaune said, desperately trying not to add _this time_ onto that sentence.

"Everyone's been summoned to the Main Hall. I think Ozpin is going to tell us something." Pyrrha said. Jaune nodded his head, patting Crocea Mors before moving with Pyrrha.

Finally.

* * *

Ozpin gazed at the full room in front of him. It had only been a day since Ozpin had called them together to prepare for war against a potential threat. Now they were gathered once again because of this threat.

Ozpin prayed that this wouldn't push the students of Beacon to maturity too fast.

"Students of Beacon." Ozpin said loudly, making sure that his voice projected all the way to the end of the room. With those words, the students fell quiet, the room filled with nervous energy.

"I am sure that all of you have heard about what has fallen Vacuo." Ozpin turned his head around to see crestfallen faces, everyone's aura tilting a little more to the depressed side.

"This… madman will continue to march onwards until he takes over all of Remnant. We did not have enough time to allow for any preventive measures to stop the fall of Vacuo. But we have ample time to prevent this from carrying on any further." Ozpin said slowly. More and more students looked up from their shoes, some of the gazes hopeful, others determined.

"Vale, along with Atlas and Mistral, is mobilizing as of now to fight this invasion. We are going to show this monster that you cannot take Remnant without a fight."

Several students were now gripping onto their weapons, their expressions angry and ready for a fight.

"Gather what you need. Tomorrow, all of Beacon marches for war, along with all the rest of Vale." Ozpin set his mug down and let go of it, before slamming the podium with his fist so hard that there was an audible crack.

"Dismissed."

* * *

 **Omake**

Cardin wasn't expecting this.

As he shook hands with Clay, Cardin slumped down onto the ground, losing consciousness. When he woke up again, he was in someone else's body. Not just anyone else's though.

As Professor Port rambled on about his life, Cardin screamed inside of his head. Cardin was trapped inside of a landscape of constant fighting, where a naked burly Peter Port was wrestling against the whole of a Grimm legion. Cardin was forced to endure a whole hour of the scene before his class was over, and Cardin slumped unconscious once more.

Waking up again, this time in Doctor Oobleck's mind, Cardin was forced once again to endure another demented mind, but this time, Cardin couldn't see anything, as everything was rushing by with a speed that blurred out any possibilities of sight. By the end of that period, Cardin was nauseous, and could barely hold his lunch in.

When Cardin was in Professor Glynda's mind… well. It was really hard to describe it.

Rope.

Lots of rope.

Finally, Cardin landed in his last body of the day, Pyrrha Nikos.

Cardin breathed in relief, glad that he was finally in a mind that was normal.

Until Pyrrha started to help out with training Jaune.

Then the fantasies came, and Cardin was horrified at how… unrestrained Pyrrha's mind was.

As the day came to a close, Cardin landed back in his body, whimpering at the fresh trauma that was caused after experiencing today.

This was not what he had meant when he wished to "Teach Jaune a lesson."

Meanwhile, other Daedras' attentions were turning as Sanguine descended onto Remnant, intent on finding someone to share his ideas of debauchery with.


	12. Doubts and Revelations

**A/N: Whoo! Super early! It's like 1 here and... yeah.**

 **I should probably go to sleep.**

 **No Omake today cause... yeah. 1 in the morning. Sorry. :(**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

"You got everything packed and ready?"

Jaune looked up to see Yang leaning against the door frame, a soft smile on her face. Jaune looked down at his bag, which had a change of clothes, toiletries, and a journal. Jaune shrugged.

"Not much to get ready." Jaune said quietly. Yang nodded, walking into the room and letting the door slid back into place. She walked past Jaune, finding his bed and settling on the edge, turning back to Jaune. Jaune turned to Yang and waited for her to say something.

"This is crazy isn't it?" Yang finally said, breaking the silence. "I mean, just a few days ago everything was pretty normal. Then a dragon decides to attack and you unlock your semblance and… well. And then all of this happened. It's hard to believe that it hasn't been months ago instead of less than two weeks, you know?"

Jaune turned his attention back to his bag, tightening the string on it.

"Yeah." He said quietly. Yang frowned at the minimal response. Standing up, Yang walked over to Jaune, touching his shoulder.

"You alright there Jauney?" Yang asked in concern. Jaune didn't look at her, still staring at his bag.

"No." Jaune admitted. "I have a hard time accepting what Imaar did."

"Yeah, it's kind of crazy isn't it? And that's from someone who can explode when she gets angry." Yang joked, hoping to get a response from Jaune. Instead, he just shook his head angrily, turning to look at Yang.

"No, I can't believe that Imaar would just leave us alone because I said so, just to turn and kill off an entire kingdom." Jaune said bitterly.

Suddenly Yang understood.

"You're blaming yourself for refusing him." Yang said, not a question, merely bringing the fact into the light. Jaune brushed the hair from his forehead with a quick swipe as he growled.

"How can I not?" Jaune said, his voice filled with despair and pain. "If I didn't so no—"

"Then Imaar would have still taken over Vacuo. And he would have had Beacon as well." Yang said shortly, pointing out the flaw in Jaune's way of thinking. "Besides, it's not like you could actually speak for all of Beacon anyways."

"Except I did." Jaune said insistently. "Instead of being the in-between for Imaar and Beacon, I chose to refuse. _I_ made the decision for everyone here, and everyone else on Remnant."

"That's not true Jaune." Yang said, her voice faltering for a second. She couldn't believe the amount of blame that he was placing on himself. Then again, wouldn't she have done the same if this happened to her?

Which one of Yang's friends would feel any differently under the same circumstances? And knowing her friends, they wouldn't stop blaming themselves just because of a few words from anyone.

Yang couldn't make Jaune feel better with her words, because no matter what she said, Jaune would have something to counter it, logical or not. But there was something that couldn't really be countered.

Yang knelt down and surrounded Jaune with a firm hug, trying to get through to Jaune in a way that words couldn't.

Jaune raised both his hands and grabbed onto the back of her shirt, bringing her closer and Jaune buried his head into her shoulder.

The two of them sat there, Jaune shaking under the pain of his choice, but also feeling the wave of reassurance that Yang was constantly sending through with her hug.

Neither of them said a word, electing to just stay like that. One giving and the other receiving. Finally, long enough that no one knew how long they were together, Jaune pulled back slightly, signaling to Yang that the moment was over. She pulled back and looked at Jaune in the eyes, face fixed in determination.

"I know you won't ever stop blaming yourself for this." Yang said, not admitting that Jaune was right, but acknowledging that Jaune wasn't going to change his mind anytime soon. "But know that you always have your friends by your side."

Jaune nodded, head still low enough that Yang couldn't see his expression. With a single sniffle, Jaune raised his head, his face clear of any want of weeping.

"Sorry about that." Jaune said quietly. Yang nodded, giving a grin that Jaune, thankfully, returned.

"Now, is there a specific reason why you're here?" Jaune asked, silently pointing out that he hadn't forgotten that Yang had basically let herself into Team JNPR's room for no reason and just brought up topics to talk about. Yang nodded.

"Yeah actually. I wanted to talk to you about your uh, semblance." Yang said. Jaune nodded, having had a feeling that was what she wanted to approach, seeing as how they were interrupted a few hours ago before Jaune could really explain everything to her.

"Sure, what do you want to know?" Jaune asked.

"Everything." Yang replied back right away. Jaune opened his mouth, before closing it again.

"I… might have some trouble doing that." Jaune admitted.

"Oh," Yang said, deflating a little before perking back up again. "Well can't your uh, dragon buddy explain everything then?"

Jaune glanced at Crocea Mors, which was hanging from his hips, before touching the pommel. Vedrahgol didn't need Jaune to explain anything to him, as he heard everything that Yang had said.

 ** _I have something that may help, but you will need to channel your Voice to make it work._**

Jaune nodded, ready for instruction.

 ** _Good. This will also be great practice for when we start to venture into other shouts as well. Now, do what I say…_**

After Vedrahgol relayed the instructions to Jaune, he started to act on it. Putting out his hands, he told Yang to hold onto them, which Yang did with raised eyebrows. Closing his eyes, Jaune did something that was akin to meditation.

He thought carefully about the words in the forefront of his mind, understanding their meaning and taking it into himself. He had a feeling that he wasn't supposed to know how to do something like this, but for some reason, could recall that _this_ was the proper way to train oneself in the way of the Voice. Jaune understood that with stunning clarity, even thought he wasn't quite sure why he knew this.

With one more breath outwards, Jaune spoke the words in his mind, understanding the meanings implicitly.

And also understood why he was acting so differently.

 _Black Rage_.

"Ved… Rahgol!"

And with that, as well as the careful concentration of Jaune's will and Vedrahgol's careful application of power, Jaune summoned the dragon's soul from across his soul and transferred it over to Yang.

While the shout would normally summon the dragon himself, being locked inside Jaune's body meant that he could only extend the soul a little farther than the confines of his own body.

Yang gasped in surprised as she felt a foreign presence enter her mind.

 ** _Hello there, krienmon_**.

 _Sun's daughter._ Jaune translated silently.

 ** _It is a pleasure to talk to you. My jul is very attracted to you._**

"I am not." Jaune said aloud, his face flushing at the sudden admission Vedrahgol gave. Yang looked up at Jaune, blinking slowly.

"Uh." Yang hesitated for a second, brow creased.

"What's he saying?" Yang asked, making Jaune practically face plant.

"You, uh, you don't know what he's saying?" Jaune asked. Yang shook her head. Jaune just covered his face with his hand in exasperation, while Vedrahgol continued to laugh and laugh.

 ** _Did you really think I would tell her something like that? No, my host must be a shining example of a predator._**

 ** _That, and I am not going to fight that battle for you._**

 _There is no battle_ , Jaune hissed in his mind, still trying to fight that blush.

"Did you dragon buddy say something to embarrass you? 'Cause if he did, there might be something we can bond over yet." Yang teased, noticing the pinkness tingeing Jaune's cheeks.

"Shut it." Jaune muttered, smiling at Yang to show that he didn't mean it.

 _Alright Vedrahgol, behave and talk to Yang in our tongue._ Jaune could feel the dragon soul roll his eyes, but relented easily, repeating his greeting in a human tongue, minus the crush part. Again Yang jumped at the sudden talking inside her head, and she looked uncertainly at Jaune, not sure how to reply before closing her eyes.

 _Thank you for talking to me_ ¸ Yang thought respectfully at the dragon soul. Her inner thoughts rang out in Jaune's mind, her mind sounding the same as her voice, but with a more ethereal ring that simply sounded mesmerizing to the ear—or to the mind as it should be.

 ** _I am not above talking to humans, and I can respect a human who has the strength and viciousness of a dragon._** Vedrahgol said to Yang. Jaune could even hear the slightest shades of respect in his tone. **_And you are the closest human I have seen portray the grace of a dovah without actually having a bit of dragon inside of you._**

Yang turned to Jaune, who had a surprised look on his face shaded with a little jealousy, and gave a smug grin. Jaune just rolled his eyes and ignored her.

 ** _Now, I know that you have a few questions to ask of me._** Vedrahgol said, the air becoming more serious. Yang's humor quickly changed as well, as they approached Yang's desired topic.

For the next half an hour, Yang and Vedrahgol talked and caught her up to speed with the lore and information that involved Jaune. While they were doing so, Jaune drifted off into space, his mind flitting to different ideas, from his skill in the Voice, to Vedrahgol's teasing about his—nonexistent—crush on Yang.

But, Jaune thought, glancing up to watch Yang. Her eyebrows were scrunched up in concentration as she continued to communicate to Vedrahgol, something about the history of dragons and what he knew about the dragons of Remnant. Her hair was free-flowing, like it always was, and glowing from the light that reflected through the window.

It didn't take a genius to admit that Yang was a beautiful women. Many Huntresses were, as a matter of fact. If Jaune thought about it, he couldn't even think of one girl that didn't look stunning in Beacon.

But that wasn't the only thing that made Yang such an attractive force of nature.

Her personality, while a bit forceful, was just so bright and energetic that it was hard to resist the pull of simply enjoying life with her. She wasn't a cuckoolander like Nora by no means, and she wasn't just needlessly optimistic and naïve, like Ruby. At times, especially when it came to caring for Ruby, she shed her fun-loving persona and took on a more mature approach to life.

She was strong, on the inside as well as the outside.

 ** _Jaune!_**

Jaune snapped to attention, eyes focusing to Yang, who looked like she was giggling at something.

 ** _If you could stop trying to evaluate krienmon as a potential mate, may I have a word with you?_** Vedrahgol drawled, sounding very human as he pushed as much sarcasm into his voice as possible. Jaune flushed and tried not to look at Yang, who he knew was laughing like crazy internally.

"Y'know Jaune, if you want you should just take a picture. It'll last longer." Yang teased, making Jaune groan.

"I was just thinking of things." Jaune defended weakly. "It's not my fault that you were right in front of me. My eyes just happen to lose focus while you were sitting there."

Yang raised an eyebrow.

"So what you're saying is that I'm boring." Yang said, crossing her arms. Another mental trip for the socially awkward Jaune.

"I- no that's not what I meant." Jaune corrected himself hastily, stammering and trying to find an excuse. Yang kept her pose for a little while longer before giving a small chuckle.

"Just kidding, I know that's not what you meant." Yang said, making Jaune draw out a long breath of relief, glad that Yang understood what he meant.

"I mean, we were kind of connected together so I could hear everything you were thinking about in the first place." Yang said casually.

Jaune froze in place. Yang's smile changed into a grin as her eyes twinkled with mischief.

"Why Jaune, I didn't know you thought so much about my mature personality." Yang said, stifling as much laughter as she possibly could.

Jaune wanted to bury himself in a shallow grave.

"Kill me now." Jaune muttered, causing Yang's mental fortitude to shatter, and she keeled over laughing.

"Yeah yeah," Jaune said, crossing his arms and rolling his eyes. "Laugh it all off. I'll wait until you're done."

And so Jaune waited until Yang could control herself.

"Ah ha, oh sorry Jauney." Yang gasped out, wiping the tears out of her eyes. "That was just too much of an opportunity to pass up. No hard feelings?" Yang asked,

Jaune looked levelly at Yang for a little longer before relenting, giving her a small smile accompanied by an even smaller nod.

"Great!" Yang exclaimed, raising her arms straight up to the sky, before dropping them down again.

"Oh and Jaune?" Yang asked, commanding his attention again. Leaning forward a little, Yang got closer to his face, showing a different angle to Jaune that had him testing his willpower not to glance downwards. Yang rested her palms on his knees, her face less than half a foot away from his.

"I don't think you're all that bad of a guy either." Yang breathed out huskily.

If Jaune's heart hadn't been stopping and starting throughout the conversation with Yang, Jaune would have definitely felt it stop at that moment. Ah Dust, Jaune did feel it stop.

The doorway to Jaune's room slid open, revealing Pyrrha standing there. Her eyes slid over to the Jaune and Yang sitting close to each other, their faces much too close for her liking.

"Oh, Yang, what brings you here to our room?" Pyrrha said politely, omitting many other words that sprang to her mind. Yang just kept the same position and turned towards Pyrrha, her hair briefly whipping across Jaune's face, making him scrunch up his nose and lean back just a little.

"Oh, I was just talking to Jaune for a bit. I can't do that?" Yang said with a casual tone that flew over most guy's heads, but didn't to most girls. And Pyrrha, while an exceptional Huntress, was also a girl that didn't lack subtlety.

"Oh it's fine. I was just wondering if it's really a good idea so close to us departing for something so dangerous. I would have thought that you would be spending as much time as possible with your teammates to get ready for something like this." Pyrrha said, her voice a fraction of a shade colder than it normally was. Yang, never one to back down from a challenge, looked her straight in the eye.

"I'll be spending plenty of time with everyone on my team for the whole mission. But you do make a good point," Yang admitted, tapping her chin thoughtfully. "So why is it that Jaune's been sitting here without his teammates for the past hour or so?" Yang challenged.

Jaune wasn't the most observant of people, but even he knew that there was something going on in the air, as it was suddenly _really_ hard to breath.

"I was here by myself because I needed some time alone." Jaune said, defending his teammates. Jaune finally moved from his spot, leaving Yang to sit there by herself. Jaune held out a hand, which she took, using it to stand up.

"Thank you for visiting me though." Jaune said, smiling. Smiling back, Yang drew him into a tight hug, making Jaune squawk in surprise.

"Nothing to say thank you for Jauney. Anytime you need some company, just call out for the beautiful, mature Yang." She said, making Jaune laugh and blush at the same time.

With that, Yang nodded at Pyrrha and brushed past her. Pyrrha kept her gaze locked onto Yang, a frown marring her face. Jaune laid his hand on her shoulder, finally causing a break from her thoughts.

"Is everything ready?" Jaune asked softly. Pyrrha nodded.

"Then let's go."


	13. The Plan and the Spoiler

**A/N: Another Monday, another awesome battle scene chapter... Hope y'all enjoy :)**

 **Guest: THANK YOU!**

* * *

There were a lot of things that Jaune was scared of.

Grimm, the dark, standing up for himself, and probably every girl he's talked to. But there was one thing that trumps all of his fears.

Airpships.

The wretched airships hummed in front of him, waiting to entrap him as he stepped onto the vehicle, ready to let loose it's horrors. Jaune looked defiantly at the inanimate object, muttering under his breath.

"I am better than the ship, I can do this. Lots of people have motion sickness, it's not an uncommon thing to deal with." Jaune chanted almost religiously. In the background Vedrahgol could only look away shamefully, horrified that the body his soul was inhabiting was afraid to take flight into the air.

 _ **How far I have fallen.**_ Vedrahgol thought sadly to himself.

Jaune's mantra was interrupted by a gentle pat on the shoulder. Turning, Jaune was met with a concerned Pyrrha, who had a small smile on her face.

"How're you feeling?" Pyrrha asked, knowing that he wasn't a big fan of riding in or on anything. Jaune smiled in thanks to Pyrrha, glad that she was trying to help get his mind off of the impending trip.

"I'll be fine. This isn't going to be the worst thing that'll happen to us." Jaune said. Pyrrha chuckled, agreeing with him.

"Knowing our luck, after a few days, you'll wish that you were back on the Airship." Pyrrha joked.

"Don't count on it," Jaune cautioned, jabbing Pyrrha playfully in the side. As the two of them looked at the Airship again, filling with students, the mood turned a little more serious as they readied themselves for the fight ahead of them.

"This is going to be big, isn't it?" Pyrrha asked softly, remembering the simple volume of Grimm that had engulfed the kingdom of Vacuo. Jaune simply nodded, not really wanting to say a word, not sure how anything would bring them comfort. The best they could do was fortify themselves for a fight against someone so powerful that he had taken over a kingdom without even breaking a sweat.

Jaune shivered a little at the thought of facing someone so powerful.

 _ **Do not worry child. When I am through with you, facing Imaar will be like a dovah fighting a newborn child.**_ Vedrahgol said, confident in his abilities. _**After all, Imaar might have learned practiced and honed his Voice for years, but he does not have a dovah to teach him the true secrets behind the power of the Voice.**_

Jaune's shoulders fell a little in relief, before Jaune came to an obvious question.

 _When're you going to be teaching me this?_ Jaune asked Vedrahgol. Going into war, Jaune wasn't sure if he would have any time besides fighting to really learn something as complicated as a power that bent reality to his will. However, Vedrahgol wasn't worried.

 _ **We will be practicing in your mindscape while you are resting. This way my teachings will not be interrupted by frivolous distractions.**_

Jaune raised an eyebrow, incredulous at Vedrahgol's phrasing. _Fighting a war is a frivolous distraction?_

Vedrahgol scoffed. _**Human wars are nothing to care for. Now, if you want to see a real war, I need to show you when dovah fight amongst themselves. Our power splits the earth and sky, raining rock and lightning. Our power tears everything standing in our way, and sends everything sentient hiding between their legs.**_ Vedrahgol sighed in happiness, remembering a day where he was free and eager to battle.

Vedrahgol described a war that he was in several years ago, detailing a warrior called the Dovahkiin, someone like Jaune, who faced the king of dragons, Alduin. As he was doing that, Jaune and his team, as well as Team RWBY were grouped together and herded into a Airship. Jaune kept his focus on Vedrahgol's story, hoping that it would be enough to at least reduce his motion sickness. For a second he thought it was going to work, as his stomach stayed dormant while the Airship powered up.

"Oh sweet Oum save me from this." Jaune gasped out, grabbing Pyrrha's hand tightly as the Airship lurched a little to the side. Pyrrha held onto his hand, disguising her amusement with a small look of support. Yang on the other hand, who was sitting nearby as well, simply laughed.

"Y'know that was only a small bump right?" Yang asked, before being elbowed by her partner and her sister. Jaune just groaned, already knowing that this was going to be a rough ride. Vedrahgol also fell silent, knowing that his story would go unappreciated while Jaune was focused on his misery.

 _ **Maybe you should join with the sun girl once more,**_ Vedrahgol suggested wanting to finish his story. _**At least she will appreciate my strength and grace. Also, I am disgusted by the noises that your body is making right now.**_

 _Please… don't talk about my body._ Jaune thought slowly in his mind as he tried not to throw up so early in the trip.

A side of the Airship lit up as a screen turned on, revealing Professor Goodwitch standing there.

"Hello students of Beacon. To save some time once we arrive on the borders of Atlas, I will be briefing you all about your tasks. I've uploaded the details of your specific missions onto your scolls, and as of right now, I will explain the general details and answer any questions before we touchdown. Anything to say before we move along?" Glynda asked, waiting a second to see if any student from the dozen-or-so Airships would have anything to say. As she answered a few questions, everybody else looked at their scrolls, reading up on their assigned duties.

"Now, remember everyone, Atlas this time of year is cold, so make sure to keep warm through heavier clothing," Professor Goodwitch explained. "When we arrive there, we will be meeting up with the teams from Mistral, who will be helping us harass and fight the back lines of the Grimm forces. The Atlas Kingdom will be sending a few of their rear troops over as well, but don't expect much, as they'll be preoccupied with fending off the frontal attack of hundreds and thousands of Grimm."

"Even though there are many Grimm, everyone remember that as long as we fight as a team, Beacon as a whole will be able to take on tens of thousands of Grimm. As long as we stick to the plans laid out in front of you, and rotate forces properly, we will mow through—"

"Grimm!" Someone shouted, pointing out through the windows of the Airship. As the groups turned to look outside, there were thousands of Nevermore approaching the fleet, some already close enough to attack some of the ships. Leading the attack force was a lone dragon, which was staring at Jaune's airship with an emotion that almost felt like malice.

The Nevermore landed on the Airships, pecking and clawing at the metal and windows, trying to find purchase to anything they could get to. The sheer amount that was attacking the airships was enough to swerve them off course, and pilots were struggling to try and right the ships up again. Some ships crashed into each other, sending two or three careening down into the forest below. Another few that had been caught unawares by the flock early on were falling as well, unable to fend off the Nevermore in time and allowing them to tear the engines apart and weigh the Airships down.

Luckily for the group of teenagers in this Airship, they were in the back of the formation, which gave them plenty of time to fight back. Team RWBY and another team opened up the hatches and started to fire their guns at the flocks approaching their Airships, trying to keep as many of them away as possible.

Jaune had also stood up, the adrenaline finally enough to overpower the need to throw up. Jaune ran to the side of the Airship as well, eager to find a way to help the other students out.

 _Vedrahgol! Anything that you have that could stop these Grimm?_

 _ **Who do you think I am, boy? Of course I have something that can stop these Grimm!**_ Vedrahgol said in an almost offended tone.

With a quick relay of information, as well as a demand from Vedrahgol for Jaune to repeat the words in his mind enough times until Vedrahgol was confident with Jaune's wording, Jaune readied himself, thinking about the meaning of the words and what he desired to do once he said them. With the guidance and willpower of the dragon soul inside of him, Jaune let loose a Thu'um.

 _Wind._

 _Unleash._

 _Strike._

"Ven… Gaar Nos!" Jaune screamed out, letting the power of the Voice stream out and coalesce into a powerful form. A more powerful variant of the first shout that he had learned, Cyclone created a whirlwind that was even larger than before. The winds were also much more violent, tearing Grimm and sending them smashing against each other so powerfully that they disintegrated almost instantly upon impact. The students cheered at the sight before Jaune fell to one knee, gasping for air.

Jaune's lungs felt so tight, and while before it seemed as if he couldn't say another shout, right now it seemed as if he couldn't say anything at all.

"Jaune!" Pyrrha yelled in concern. Yang also turned, frowning at the downed form behind her.

"I'm alright," Jaune gasped out, waving away the Pyrrha's hands. Rising unsteadily, Jaune took a deep breath, his lungs expanding gratefully once more, allowing Jaune to clear his mind and focus on the skies ahead.

The dragon that was leading the Nevermore hovered alongside the Airship, looking intently at Jaune.

Without another word, the Dragon dove at the Airship, its teeth clamping on the hull and tearing the metal like sheets of paper. With a shake of its neck, the Airship broke into pieces, causing many of the students to fall to the ground.

 _ **We cannot let it go, Maldovah!**_ Vedrahgol said, insistent. _**You are the only one that can kill it, and if you do not, then everyone here will not make it when the sun sets.**_

 _How am I going to do that? I can't even reach him!_ Jaune exclaimed, looking at the dragon. The enormous Grimm had let go of the pieces of the airship, which swayed unsteadily in the air for a second before it started its decent towards the trees.

 _ **Let me use you!**_ Vedrahgol said, desperate. _**Please, trust me!**_

As Jaune fell down, he turned to see his friends trying to stay alive, finding ways to keep themselves from falling too fast and not get hit by flying pieces of metal. Looking back up, he saw the Dragon staring back at him. Jaune didn't know if he was imagining it or not, but it looked as if the Dragon had a smug look on its face.

Well, it wouldn't be there for long.

 _Tear it to pieces_. Jaune thought to Vedrahgol, a lot of vindictiveness coating his words. Jaune closed his eyes briefly, and his mind was shoved into the back of his head, the dragon soul that had been sealed inside of him finally able to take the reins.

When Jaune opened his eyes, they were stark yellow, his pupils narrowing into a thin vertical line. He smiled and flexed his fingers.

"The body is frailer and not as… great as my old body," Dragon-Jaune said, "But it will do to take down the likes of an imposter like you, Nidovah."

And with that, Jaune bent his knees and shouted.

"Wuld… Nah Kest!" and flew towards the Grimm Dragon, his figure blurring as he sped along almost as fast as Ruby when she used her semblance. The distance was eaten up in seconds, and Jaune floated in the air for a second face to face with the shocked dragon.

Jaune gave a smug grin before drawing out Dawnbreaker.

"Heel, Dragon." He hissed, before stabbing it right in the mouth. It reared back in pain, throwing Jaune backwards. Twisting to orient himself to face the dragon's backside, he drew in another breath.

"Yol… Tor Shuul!" And fire streamed out, coating the dragon and making it scream in pain. The dragon dove away, trying to avoid Jaune, but he wasn't going to let that happen.

With another shout, Jaune blasted lighting, striking the dragon in one of its wings, sending it careening downwards. In a last ditch attempt, the Dragon turned and opened its mouth, spewing darkness to try and engulf the also falling Jaune.

"Feim… Zii Gron!" And with that shout, Jaune become a soul without a body, every bit of that black blast passing through him harmlessly. Along with that, as the Dragon smashed into the ground, Jaune floated down onto his feet, ready to face the dragon who was fearing for its life.

With a practiced twirl of Dawnbreaker, Jaune gave a grin that was more dragon than human.

"Now it is time for you to die, little one." Jaune whispered, before shouting his last shout.

"Su… Grah Dun!" And with that, Jaune charged, his being lighter than air, his arms swinging his sword so fast that all that could be seen was a blur. Several slashes later and the Dragon was bleeding everywhere, trying to find a route of retreat. Jaune was merciless however, and simply jumped, grabbing the snout and pulling himself onto the head, before raising Dawnbreaker and slamming it down through the skull.

Jaune grinned as he felt the Dragon Grimm shudder its last breath and collapse under him.

"Now, return to a true Dovah." Jaune growled out, touching the Grimm with his hand. In a burst of light, the Grimm flaked apart and flowed into Jaune. As the body disintegrated, Jaune dropped through and landed on his feet, inhaling as the rush of power flowed through him.

 _I can feel myself getting stronger._ Jaune noted idly, able to tell the difference from just moments before. Now that he wasn't unconscious while the process was happening, he was able to see how the power was helping him become something stronger.

 _Thanks Vedrahgol. Can I have my body back now?_

Dragon-Jaune kept his grin razor sharp. "What if I don't want to give back your body?"

For a second, Jaune's heart seized up in fright, thinking that he had overlooked a crucial hidden depth of Vedrahgol. After all, he had been shown as a being predisposed to superiority.

All of this was ruined when Dragon-Jaune doubled over laughing.

"Oh, I could just imagine the look on your face right now." Jaune chortled, sending the real Jaune into a fit of confusion.

"Oh trust me lad, I really don't want to stay in a body like this. It is just too… weak for me." Dragon-Jaune said in disgust, looking at his noodle-y arms.

 _Hey!_ Jaune thought indignantly. Ignoring this, Dragon-Jaune slowly drifted back into the back of Jaune's mind, shoving Jaune's consciousness back to the forefront.

 _ **And besides, using your body for too long breaks it down.**_ Vedrahgol said in amusement.

"What do you mean—" Jaune said, before kneeling over, groaning at the intense pain that racked his body. His throat felt like someone stuffed it with sandpaper, and body felt like he ran a marathon full sprint without stopping to take a breath. He was dizzy, nauseous, and pretty sure that if this feeling didn't subside in the next few seconds, he was going to take Crocea Mors and stab himself in the stomach, just to relieve himself of living with this kind of ache any longer.

"Jaune! Are you alright?" A voice shouted, footsteps echoing as the person ran closer to the kneeling Jaune.

"Yearble." Jaune said, trying to reassure the person next to him, but only making a half strangled choking noise instead. A pair of hands grabbed Jaune's shoulders and pulled him up, revealing the concerned figure to be Yang.

"Are you alright?" Yang repeated slowly, trying to see if there was anything wrong with Jaune. Instead of talking this time, Jaune nodded, allowing Yang to sigh in relief.

"Aw man, that was so cool up there." Yang said, grinning at Jaune. "I saw the whole thing. Who knew you could take down a dragon all by yourself like that? You have _got_ to show me those moves."

Jaune smiled weakly, wanting to say something, but wincing in pain when he opened his mouth. It felt as if his throat was cracking when it expanded too widely.

"Water." Jaune croaked out, trying to ignore the immense pain that it caused him just to say that much. Luckily Yang heard and nodded at him, wrapping her arm around his shoulder and helping him move.

"Don't worry Jaune, I think I've got someone that might be able to help." Yang said, before yelling out loudly, making Jaune rear back in an attempt to try and save his ear drums.

"Weiss!"

With a shuffle, Weiss appeared from behind a few trees, an irritable expression on her face.

"Yang, stop screeching before you attract all the Grimm!" She scolded, not really having much of an effect as Yang simply just ignored her.

"Jaune here needs some water!" Yang said, making Weiss cross her arms in disbelief.

"Really now? As concerning as that is, I'm not _that_ well prepared. How do you think I'm going to make water? Summon it out of thin air?" Weiss said, waving her arms around. Yang frowned for a moment, before having an idea.

* * *

"I can't believe we're doing this." Weiss said in exasperation, keeping her arms crossed as she looked at the sight before her.

Having summoned an ice shard with Weiss's Dust, Yang grabbed it and concentrated on her semblance, heating herself and the air around her enough to get the ice to melt. And so, Jaune ended up sitting on the ground, head raised to the sky with his mouth open as Yang unfroze the ice and dripped the water into his parched throat.

Weiss just stood there, wondering what went wrong with her life to be standing here and spectating such a scene.

"Thanks Yang, you're a life saver." Jaune said gratefully, before turning to the Ice Princess. "You too, Weiss." He said.

Weiss simply turned to the side.

"Well, it would be a shame not to pay you back for killing that horrendous beast earlier. You saved us quite the effort in doing so." She said haughtily.

"Yeah. It was quite the effort." Jaune said, rubbing his throat. Yang jumped in, slinging her arm around Jaune's shoulder, making him lean forward to take on her weight.

"Well, glad that everyone here's alright, now it's time to find everyone else!" Yang declared. Weiss nodded in agreement, turning to Jaune to explain.

"We got separated when the Grimm tore apart the Airship. Luckily, our scrolls still work, so we've arranged a rendezvous." Weiss said. Jaune nodded. Now that he had a little bit of water in him, he was fit for walking.

Just hopefully, nothing more than that.

"Lead the way." Jaune said.

* * *

Omake

* * *

"Wazz goin' on?" Qrow slurred, blinking hazily as he sat up from under his sheets.

Last night had been unbelievably amazing for him, as he had finally met a drinking buddy that could hold his own with some nice, hard liquor. The man even had his own stock, something that was so strong that it felt like Yang had activated her semblance inside his throat when he chugged it down. The both of them felt like having a drinking contest, but the drink was so strong that his drinking buddy had stopped after the fourth or fifth drink, which obviously only meant that Qrow, being the amazing Hunter that he was, had to take another drink to show him up.

That wasn't all that great of a good idea however, as Qrow seemed to have immediately blacked out right afterwards.

"Urrgh. A good drink always come with a price." Qrow groaned, clutching his head. The drink was so strong that he _still_ felt the buzz, but was already having a hangover as well. It was probably one of the weirdest feelings Qrow had ever experienced, and that was coming from someone who's been all over Remnant.

The things he did would make his nieces blanch in shock and horror.

And those were only the stories that involved him wooing women.

A shifting besides him made Qrow jump a little in surprise. Who had snuck into his bed? Normally, being the Hunter that he was, Qrow would have immediately been on edge at that point, ready to fight back at any threat.

But with a nasty hangover, as well as still being just a tad tipsy, Qrow instead noticed something else.

"Wait a second. I don't have blue bed sheets." Qrow said, eyebrows creasing in confusion, before morphing into horror as pale legs stretched out in front of him, and a figure rose off the mattress.

"Well, that was definitely a night I'm willing to forget." Winter said, blinking the sleepiness out of her eyes, before turning to look at Qrow.

"You know, for all your posturing, you aren't all that great in bed as you say you are." Winter said calmly, not even bothering to cover herself up.

Qrow just stared a little longer, before breaking down completely.

"What… the fuck."


	14. Makeshift Camp and the Rendezvous

**A/N: So apparently, surgeries aren't a snap to recover from XD. So I'm posting a little late 'cause I had to wait until it felt as if everything stopped spinning and I didn't want to throw up on my computer... 'cause that'd be bad. Bud 'nyways, I hope y'all enjoy :)**

 **Cain:Vedrahgol and Jaune are starting to be best buddies. They'll learn to depend and trust on each other. And, well, this Omake will show you ;)**

* * *

Grimm were the products of evil itself, designed to prey on the weaknesses of humankind. People are so afraid of them that they created a whole branch of warriors called Hunters to quell the waves of Grimm. There was nothing terrible to humankind as Grimm could be.

Sometimes, Jaune liked to think that mosquitoes were Grimm.

Cursing, he slapped another one away from his arm, grumbling under his breath.

 _You wouldn't happen to have a shout that would repel bugs away, would you?_

Vedrahgol paused, and Jaune could sense his confusion. _**What are these… bugs that you speak of?**_ He asked, genuinely curious. Jaune couldn't help but start in surprise.

 _Are there no bugs on Nirn?_ Jaune asked. Vedrahgol seemed to mentally shrug. _**If there were such things, I have never noticed nor seen them around. There are these things that resemble these 'bugs' that you speak of, except they are the size of you and can eat a human in minutes.**_

Jaune stopped talking, and tried to focus on following Yang and Weiss, trying not to imagine what Vedrahgol had just described.

 _Vedrahgol?_ Jaune said, gaining the dragon-soul's attention.

 _ **Yes maldovah?**_ Vedrahgol said, turning his attention towards his host.

 _Remind me to never visit your world. Ever._ Jaune communicated in a deadpan voice. Vedrahgol only gave a belly laugh which shook his imaginary cavern, making this weird echo in Jaune's head. Jaune just shook his head in slight amusement.

 _ **Do not worry maldovah. If we ever visit there, I am sure you will not be completely mauled by the wildlife**_. Vedrahgol said in a rare moment of humor.

 _ **More than likely the people will kill you first**_.

Jaune rolled his eyes. _Well that puts my fears right to rest._

 _ **It should!**_ Vedrahgol argued. _**At least with people you will not be torn piece by piece like Chaurus or Dremora—**_

"Jaune!" A voice exclaimed as the group stumbled into a clearing. Pyrrha came in close and swept him into a hug that Jaune gladly returned. "I'm so glad you're alright." She said, her voice a little muffled against Jaune's shoulder. Raising a hand, Jaune rubbed Pyrrha's back. "I'm alright." Jaune said quietly to her.

As they stepped apart, Jaune was able to see Yang's face, which had a look that Jaune could admit he had never seen on her face before. Her lips were thin, her arms were crossed, and she had on something that could almost be considered a scowl. Before Jaune could say anything though, Yang's face morphed into a jovial grin.

"Rubes!" She said simply, rushing towards the leader of Team RWBY and giving her a suffocating hug that Ruby tried to squirm out of.

"Sis! I… am… alright! Please let go." Ruby said breathlessly, clutching the arms that was wrapped against her throat. With a quick look around the clearing, Jaune could see that everyone seemed to have come out of the crash looking only a little worse for wear, their Auras probably preventing any major injuries.

"Jaune…" Pyrrha's voice was a little uncertain. Jaune kept his eyes trained on hers, waiting patiently for her to say something.

"What… what happened up there?" Pyrrha asked. "I was only able to catch a glance, and from what I saw, you were fighting the… Grimm. What happened?"

Jaune glanced over at Yang, who gave an arched look before turning away.

"Yeah, I uh, I fought the dragon." Jaune said slowly, trying to think of what to say to her, along with everyone else in the clearing who had suddenly decided to fall silent and hear what Jaune had to say. Jaune just shrugged a little helplessly.

"I guess I just got a little lucky?" Jaune said, laughing nervously. "I mean, I knew that Crocea Mors could cut through the Dragon so I just… kept swinging until it fell over?"

Jaune knew his excuse was flimsy at best, and was sure that everyone thought so as well. Fortunately for him, they were too relieved to see that everyone was alright and another powerful Grimm had been taken down, no matter how questionable it was.

Trying to turn everyone's attention away from him, Jaune decided to point out the situation at hand.

"So guys, what're we going to do now?" Jaune asked.

Everyone looked back and forth at each other, before Ren stepped forward with a possible solution.

"Well, it seems as if all the Grimm have finally cleared out, and I assume that backup is being called right now. The reasonable thing to do would be to… settle down for now and wait for someone to pick us up?" Ren suggested, which was something that everyone seemed content to do. Weiss even had the idea to contact Beacon, as their scrolls seemed to be intact and they weren't too far away from civilization to lose a signal.

As Weiss tried to get a hold of someone, the two teams divided the workload and got to setting up a camp. Ruby and Pyrrha were paired up to go on a hunt and try to find something for them to eat, as they were the best at long distance shooting out of everyone here. Ren and Nora went out to gather firewood and water. Blake would accompany them to a nearby river and try to catch fish… which wasn't because she was a cat faunus or anything. That left Jaune and Yang, both of which were the more physically inclined to try and set up camp.

With a goal in mind, everyone set off, making sure that they had functioning scrolls on them and to report back every hour.

And with that, Jaune set off trying to find ways to create a shelter for the eight of them. There was some wreckage strewn all over the woods from the several crashes, which Jaune and Yang used to create an artificial canopy above the clearing, shielding them from airborne Grimm and rain or glaring hot sunlight.

"Hello? Professor Goodwitch? Yes, I'm with my team as well as Team JNPR. We've fallen as well, and would like to know what you need us to do…" Weiss said, walking back and forth while she was talking to the professor.

"How do you think he knew?" Yang asked conversationally, pulling together two pieces of metal together and trying to figure out how to get them to stick.

"Who knew what?" Jaune asked back, grunting as he tried to lift a particularly heavy sheet of metal.

"Imaar." Yang answered, finally concentrating and using her semblance to try and weld the two pieces of metal together. Her hands flared up with fire and the metal started to heat up, turning a light cherry red.

Jaune placed the sheet of metal right next to Yang, wiping some of the sweat off of his forehead. Spotting another scrap on top of the trees, Jaune squinted his eyes, trying to think of a way to get it down. Consulting Vedrahgol mentally, Jaune distractedly answered Yang's question.

"I think he knew that we were going to have to do something eventually," Jaune answered. "I have a feeling that Imaar didn't actually take back all of the Grimm he was controlling and left some to warn him of when we were going to move."

Yang grunted, lifting up the shape of metal that Jaune set aside for her with barely any effort. "That's real smart of him." Yang said quietly, before jumping and latching onto a nearby tree. Jaune shrugged.

"We have no idea who or _what_ Imaar is. We shouldn't really underestimate him." Jaune said. Yang nodded in agreement, having no qualms with taking some time to study an opponent. Silence took over for the next few minutes as they each got to working on their separate tasks.

"Fus!" Jaune shouted, the force rippling toward the metal, causing it to shift just enough to fall into Jaune's hands. Jaune grinned at the minor accomplishment and turned to see Yang staring at him.

"What?" Jaune asked, a little scared at the intensity of which Yang was staring. Another second passed before Yang just shook her head.

"Nothing. Just thinking about some things." Yang said, carrying on with her work, a little more fire flaring up around her hands.

"O—okay then." Jaune said back hesitantly.

Weiss walked up between the two of them, scroll in hand.

"Alright, I've got some orders from Professor Goodwitch. I think I'll wait until everyone comes back together though." Weiss said.

"Sounds good to me." Yang said, leaning back to examine her shoddy work. A piece of metal broke loose from the structure and fell to the ground, making a resounding echo. Jaune looked incredulously at Yang, who shrugged.

"Looks good enough for me." Yang replied back easily.

Jaune just shook his head and concentrated, before using his Voice to blast a wave of fire to meld the rest of the metal a little more soundly together. Yang nodded, impressed.

"That's pretty cool too."

Jaune smiled at the compliment, and went to work clearing the rest of the place out for the others to arrive, Yang trailing behind and helping where she could.

After some hard work clearing the, uh, well, clearing, Jaune and Yang welcomed the returning teammates back to a place that looked a little more hospitable than before. Pyrrha came in with a deer placed around her shoulders, carrying it into the clearing with an excited Ruby trailing behind, jumping up and down and crowing about the kill that she got. Ren and Nora came in with bags of water, along with firewood, Nora carrying the larger stack, of course. With a little more variety, Blake entered a little later with a bundle of fish, as well as a pouch of herbs and berries that she assured everyone were good to eat.

Minutes later, a campfire was made and the deer cut down and divided into pieces, along with some of the fish and a side of greens. As everyone sat down to enjoy their meal, Weiss cleared her throat, gathering their attention.

"Now, I've come into contact with Professor Goodwitch, who also had some trouble with the Grimm. The teachers have gathered many students into a central location and are gathering backup transportation right away." Weiss continued, grabbing a stick and drawing out a crude map. "This is where they are right now," Weiss said, drawing an x on the ground. "And this is where we are," She continued, drawing another x. "We need to get here, where Professor Port is heading so that we can meet up with another group that is also going to the rendezvous. Safety in numbers and all that." Weiss said, drawing another x. "Any questions?"

They all sat in silence for a second before Ruby spoke up.

"Um… So we're going to be walking south?" She asked hesitantly.

"What? No, we're going North." Weiss said impatiently. "We _are_ heading towards Atlas after all."

"Then why are we going like, twice the distance to meet up with someone else when we could just go straight there?" Blake asked quietly. Weiss flushed a little at the question.

"It's not twice the distance! It's actually closer to the rendezvous and I was just trying to draw in perspective and…" Weiss fell silent as everyone tried to smother their laughter behind their hands.

"Oh shut up. You guys know exactly what I meant." Weiss said, scowling ferociously, although her blush sort of diminished the effect.

"Well, besides the fact that Weiss can't draw a decent map," Yang said, ignoring Weiss's indignant cries, "I think it's getting pretty late, and _some_ of us are still growing, so I think it's time for us to hit the hay and get ready to move early tomorrow morning. _Yes_ Ruby, I _was_ talking to you when I said that."

Everyone gathered their stuff and tried to find comfortable patches of ground that didn't look too suspicious or wet and tried to find a way to go to sleep. Jaune volunteered for the first shift of watch, as he hadn't really done much compared to the others today.

As he found a stump to sit on, Vedrahgol finally spoke up after a long day of work as Jaune laid his hand on Crocea Mors.

 _ **Finally some peace and quiet.**_ He grumbled. _**Now we can go and explore your limits, as well as attune you to the power of the Voice.**_

Jaune nodded crossing his legs and getting ready for instruction before a loud _crack_ was heard, along with Ruby yelping.

Turning around, he was met with Ruby underneath a piece of metal that had fallen off, smacking her in the face.

With a sigh, Jaune turned around again as Yang rushed to help her baby sister.

* * *

 **Omake**

* * *

Qrow prided himself in always being calm in the face of danger. He was someone who would react with grace, poise, and a stunning viciousness if needed. Being a spymaster, he was rarely taken by surprise, and could usually adjust himself to anything that throws him off balance.

To be short, Qrow was not someone to be taken lightly.

That was why, when Qrow decided to gracefully crawl into the nearest corner, and calmly wrap his arms around his knees and rock back and forward, Winter decided to keep her distance, knowing that Qrow could take her head off at any given moment as easily as one would tear tissue paper.

No, she wasn't trying to stifle a giggle and she was most definitely _not_ sneaking pictures in with her scroll. That would be unladylike.

Qrow rested his forehead on his arms, trying to think of the things that happened to him after he took on the challenge with his drinking buddy the other night. But everything just seemed to be one. big. blur. Qrow raised his head up hopefully, looking at the standing form of Winter, who had put a shirt and a pair of panties, something that Qrow was grateful for.

"How did… how did I get here?" Qrow asked, his voice cracking and his head still throbbing something massive. Winter raised her eyebrow and crossed her arm, her hips shifting to the side.

"You are probably the only person in the history of Remnant to forget having sex with a Schnee. Hmph. Well, at least one person here won't have to remember how terrible you were—"

"Stop. Stop," Qrow raised a hand to halt Winter's speech, his headache banging in between his eyebrows. He did _not_ want to consider at _all_ how he had… bedded the white haired heiress, and quite frankly, he was happy he didn't have to remember any of the details.

"What I meant was… how did this all start?"

Winter clasped her elbow with on hand and tapped her lips thoughtfully with the other.

"Well, I remember you talking to Professor Port. Something about making a bet that you were able to get into anyone's pants?"

Qrow clutched his head as it started to come back to him. Snatches of conversation where Qrow was tottering around claiming that he was the most charismatic man on the face of Remnant and Peter calling him out on it. He remembered boasting that he would get into anyone's pants and the boisterous professor calling him out on it, actually pointing to the first woman that came to his attention.

Coincidentally, it had to be Winter Schnee.

Qrow stood up, wobbling a bit before slurring out, "I need to see Peter." Qrow hoped that he could sort out the damage that he had done after he had gotten shit faced drunk.

"Well I hear he's teaching today. Since it _is_ a school day after all."

Qrow nodded, before he groped around to try to find his shirt. He had changed in the middle of all of this, but it seemed as if he had lost his shirt.

"Hey, have you seen my shirt, I swear I didn't already have it off when I came here did I—" As Qrow raised his head, his beaten in little mind noticed something. The shirt Winter was wearing was red. Winter never wore red. She didn't go well with red at all. Which meant…

"That's my shirt!" Qrow exclaimed, hands spread out. "Give it back!"

Winter kept her arms crossed.

"Why should I do that? I think I deserve a little something after that tasteless night, and the gall you have for not even remembering it. You aren't getting this shirt back unless you burn it to ashes." With a little hmph, Winter turned her head to the side and let Qrow stand there, mouth gaping at the audacity that she had to keep his shirt. _His_ shirt! That was like, his only one too!

"W-well what am I supposed to wear then?" Qrow demanded, looking around at the room in hopes that there was another good looking shirt for him to wear. Alas, there were not.

"Actually," Winter said suddenly, her mouth splitting into a smirk. "I think I might have the perfect thing for you."

Qrow could only shiver in fear as Winter approached him, stalking forward like a snow leopard.

 _I am never drinking again._


	15. Meeting the Group

**A/N: Here ya go! Not much to say. Omake's a little short but I was eh. Lemme know what y'all think!**

 **Guest: Always is :)**

 **Cain:Aw, you're too sweet ^-^**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

The following morning, Jaune got up early, seeing a drowsy Blake on watch. Waving at her, Jaune moved a little deeper into the forest, just enough so that the trees would obscure any curious eyes, but they would still be able to hear him if he was in trouble.

"Alright. Let's try this out." Jaune muttered to himself, focusing on one of the new shout that Vedrahgol had taught him.

"Laas… Yah Nir." Jaune said, controlling his voice. This shout wasn't all that much of a shout, something that he almost muttered under his breath. With the power of the shout, things started to pop up before his eyes, like red flames in the distance. Vedrahgol had told him that the shout would outline any moving beings, and show Jaune roughly how close they were.

Turning around, Jaune could see seven other people either still asleep or milling about, the flames hopping and skipping around as the people moved. Jaune couldn't see who they were specifically, but he could count them out separately.

Turning around again, Jaune saw other flames, but a black color to them, running and moving in unexpected patterns. Those, Jaune guessed, would be Grimm. Jaune whistled slowly, impressed. This may not be the most powerful shout he had in his arsenal, but it was something that, if used correctly, could be very helpful for the group. This way, they didn't have to expend a person to scout ahead or behind of them, and ambushes would be next to impossible. Jaune grinned maniacally.

This was something that he could work with.

There was another shout that Vedrahgol had taught him last night, but Jaune decided that he would save that up until it was needed. There wasn't really any purpose for him to use it now anyways.

With a feeling of accomplishment in mind, Jaune wandered back into camp, where it was bustling with movement.

Everyone was packing up their stuff, and preparing to move out. Jaune decided to help with it as well, and within minutes, they were ready to move to the rendezvous point.

As they started to move, Jaune explained to them his newfound skill, which impressed all of them.

"Wow, that's actually pretty neat Jaune," Yang said with a grin. "Jaune the satellite." Jaune simply rolled his eyes and used the shout, walking ahead of everyone else. Their trek wasn't very exciting, as they only encountered one or two groups of lesser Grimm, which was decimated with short work from the eight of them.

"So…" Yang said, popping up beside Jaune, hands clasped behind her back. She leaned forward and tilted her head to look at Jaune. "Any other tricks you've got up your sleeve?" Jaune raised an eyebrow at the weird posture before shrugging.

"A few. But I'm saving those for when I need them."

It didn't take long for a group of Hunters and Huntresses to cross several miles in less than an hour, even if they were only in training. The sun was barely making its way to the top of the sky when they reached the rendezvous point.

Looking around, they couldn't find anyone waiting for them, which was strange, since they were told that Professor Port was closer to the point and had probably moved earlier then they had.

Jaune stepped forward and used the shout, which Vedrahgol insisted on calling Aura Whisper, and looked around the forest, hoping that any kind of human was in range for him to see.

Finally, in the distance a little to the left of him, he could see the faint outlines of several humans. Unfortunately, black flames also accompanied them, and it seemed as if the Grimm were outnumbering the Hunter group to the point where it looked like the red flames looked like a candle in a forest fire of darkness.

Jaune pointed to the direction.

"They need help! We have to move!"

And with that the group mobilized, moving through the forest with speed. When you've been at Beacon for long enough, moving through a forest was something they could do without even thinking about it.

It didn't take long for the group to stop and see hundreds of Grimm attacking Professor Port's group. Springing into action, the eight of them lent a hand, smashing onto one side of the Grimm horde and pincering the dark beasts. Even then it was a hard fight, as there was just simply a massive volume that they had to cut through.

Of course, having the luck of particularly unfortunate main characters, just when it seemed as if they were making a little bit of headway, loud cawing could be heard in the distance, and breaking from the trees were dozens of Nevermore, intent on making the fighting difficult for the Hunters.

They were fighting a losing battle at this point, as Professor Port's group, Team CDNL and CVFY were exhausted and on their last legs, while Jaune's group was too far away to help them out.

 _ **I think now might be the best time to use this**_. Vedrahgol said in a calm voice. Jaune winced and looked around at the sheer number of Grimm around him.

 _Are you sure? I thought you said that it wasn't as effective as—_

 _ **Never mind how effective it is. Even a few will be able to turn the tide.**_ Vedrahgol snarled. Jaune nodded and drew in a breath, focusing on the words that he needed to project.

"Raan… Mir Tah!"

The shout, like every other, rippled outwards and hit the waves of Grimm. Several of them stopped fighting instantly, and others were slowly roused from the bloodlust. Within seconds, almost a hundred of the Grimm turned on the others and started to tear them apart as well, evening the numbers up enough for the two groups to relaunch their attacks.

Jaune, on the other hand, wasn't fighting. In fact, he wasn't doing anything, except calmly breathing.

 _ **Remember Jaune, regulate your breathing just right. I know this may seem time consuming at first, but when you master it, you will be able to shout almost continuously without suffering for it.**_

Jaune struggled with the breathing technique for another few seconds before he pulled his sword up from the ground and continued to fight alongside everyone.

When the last hostile Grimm was taken down, beheaded by Ruby's Crescent Rose, the Grimm that had turned because of Jaune's shout simply stood there, as if frozen in a sap. There were less than thirty of the beings left, simply standing there waiting for Jaune to either release them or give them more orders.

 _Uh, Vedrahgol? You've never told me how to get rid of these guys._

Vedrahgol made a sound that was almost like a chortle. _**Get rid of them? You kill them.**_

Jaune blinked at the statement. "Oh." He said simply, before directing his will to the Grimm, who all simply attacked each other until there were only a dozen left, which Jaune directed the others to kill.

With that finally handled, Jaune and his group approached Professor Port's, all of whom looked absolutely floored.

"Thank you for that save Mr. Arc! While I probably could have handled all of them myself, it would have been particularly difficult for the students to keep up with me, and protecting them would have restricted my prowess and fighting ability!" The professor blustered. Jaune gave a weak smile in acknowledgement.

"I'm glad I was able to help sir."

Professor Port nodded, before letting out a deep breath and sitting down on the ground.

"On that hand, I think we should take a break—for the students of course. We wouldn't want to push them too hard now, would we?" The burly professor started to laugh, before losing breath and wheezing out, "I'm alright, don't worry about me."

"We weren't planning on it." A wry voice spoke out. Jaune turned to see Coco sitting as well, sunglasses blocking out her eyes, but still showing the raised eyebrows that she sported.

"Are you guys alright?" Jaune asked awkwardly, not sure what else to say. Coco lowered her head to see above her shades.

"Yeah. It's mostly just fatigue right now. I don't think anyone's aura is even down yet, so there shouldn't be any injuries, really." Coco spoke a little louder, making sure everyone heard the last part. "Which means there shouldn't be any whining either."

"I wasn't whining." Cardin spoke up, panting in between breaths. "I was just… pointing out that things were getting difficult." He defended.

"Oooh no, this is impossible, we're never going to make it, we have to run and find help." Surprisingly, it wasn't Coco that was mocking him, but Velvet, who was even gesturing along with the words to make him look sillier. Cardin's face turned red, but he didn't bother rebutting and simply grumbled under his breath. Coco grinned at Velvet and held out a hand, letting the faunus give her a brief high-five.

As Peter's group fell into an easy going attitude, trying to regain their energy, Jaune's group remained vigilant, as they weren't as winded as the others were.

Jaune repeatedly used his Aura detection shout, making sure to use the breathing technique over and over again in hopes that it would improve the pain and lessen the time it took for him to recover from a shout.

When everyone was rested and ready, they decided to continue onto where Professor Goodwitch had made base.

Finally Lady Luck seemed to be smiling down on them, as they arrived without any more troubles.

They emerged into a clearing that was about three or four times bigger than the one they used to make camp the night before, filled with students and teachers milling about. Many of them seemed to have set up separate camps for different needs. There was a hospital on one side, a smithy/repair corner, and another that seemed to be fiddling with metal debris from the fallen airships.

In the middle of all of this was a stern blonde woman, snapping out orders and clutching a clipboard. Even in the middle of devastation, it seemed as if Professor Goodwitch would find a way to instill calmness and clarity into the scene. It would be a dark day indeed when the chaos swallows even Professor Goodwitch.

Professor Port gave a loud belly laugh, waving his hand to get the blonde witch's attention. Professor Goodwitch's stern face lost a few of its lines as she spotted the emerging group and even gave a brief smile before she handed the clipboard to a nearby student, who started to yell the orders she was yelling just a few moments before.

"Peter! What took you guys so long? You're an hour late."

Professor Port being, well, Professor Port, simply gave a boisterous laugh in an attempt to wave off her worry.

"Oh ho, well we were simply facing down a horde of Grimm that was threatening to overwhelm us, but as it seemed as if all hope was lost—" Glynda interrupted.

"Let me guess. You gathered up your willpower and destroyed all the Grimm, didn't you?" She said with a wry voice.

"Actually, Mr. Arc came to save the day." Professor Port said, in a surprising show of modesty. In fact, it was so unexpected that Professor Goodwitch was stunned speechless for a good few seconds, allowing Professor Port to continue to talk.

"Ah yes, apparently, Mr. Arc was able to turn the powers of the Dragon Rider back, and took over hundreds of Grimm, allowing us another fighting chance!"

Professor Goodwitch turned to look at Jaune, who was starting to get a little uncomfortable at the way everyone was staring at him. Apparently, the boisterous professor's voice was loud enough to perforate through the whole camp.

"Is this true?" The stern teacher asked, knowing Peter long enough to find a second witness to line up the truths with the… dramatizations. Jaune rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.

"I-I mean it wasn't really hundreds… m-maybe a few dozen at the most." The knight said sheepishly.

"That is still very impressive." Professor Goodwitch said, catching Jaune off guard with rare praise.

Weiss stepped forward at the silence, eager to do something.

"Professor? I was wondering if there was a plan now that we're all… marooned here." Weiss asked, polite as ever. Professor Goodwitch nodded, gathering her thoughts.

"Yes. As a matter of fact, the ambush had brought down five airships out of the twelve flying. The other eight are still traveling towards Atlas, in hopes that the numbers will still have a strong effect against Imaar and his forces. Mistral's forces are also approaching the point, but has also been kind enough to divert three airships to our location for pickup. It'll be a tight fit, but we'll still be able to make it to the battlefield with only a minimal loss of time." Professor Goodwitch pushed her glasses up and turned towards the camp.

"Now, there are several things that we are doing right now, but for now, we're prepping the injured for an airship to take back to Vale. Barring any other incidents, the airship from Vale should be here by the mid-afternoon, and the Mistral airships will arrive the morning after."

Everyone nodded in their understanding, ready to get a hand on the tasks. Within seconds, Professor Goodwitch got them all to their own individual tasks.

* * *

 **OMAKE**

* * *

"You're kidding me."

Qrow looked at Peter with a sense of shock and awe, wondering how in _Oum's_ name the man ever did it.

Qrow had burst through the hotel room that the boisterous professor had rented out for the evening, and saw a sight that made him want to fall to his knees in disbelief.

"Ah! Qrow! Glad you're here! Would you kindly help pry these women off of me?" He said as he held out both of his beefy arms, where two women were literally hanging off of him. Qrow pinched the bridge of his nose with his forefinger.

"Why does this always happen to him and not _me_?" Qrow said, not sure who he was saying that to. Probably the gods. Unfortunately, any gods listening were laughing off their asses at the moment.

"Never mind that, help me now Qrow!"

And with that the two of them gathered all of the girls, which there were several, and tossed them out of the window. Wait, they were civilians. The two of them threw the women out through the door.

Qrow sighed in relief, turning to talk to Peter before the burly man burst out laughing, pointing at Qrow.

Knowing what the man was laughing about, Qrow tried to retain his sense of dignity, which was hard to do in a pink frilly v-neck.

"Alright, alright. Enough's enough." Qrow muttered, which was pretty much drowned out by the bellowing laughter of the older man.

"I-I just can't. HAHAHAHA!"

Finally, Qrow had enough, and whipped out his scythe, before realizing that… it wasn't his scythe.

"What the…?"

In his hand was a large cylindrical object, rounded on one end, with the engraving I.O.U. 1 Scythe.

Qzpin couldn't help but groan.

 _Someone's out to get me._


	16. Another Wrench in the Works

**A/N: Er. Yeah. New Chapter. Fun fun fun.**

* * *

Team RWBY and JNPR were all over the camp, trying to help wherever needed. Jaune had been placed with the injured, running back and forth to try and find a way to help ease their pains in any way.

 _Are you sure there isn't any shout that could heal everyone here?_ Jaune asked conversationally, as he moved from a green haired boy to a girl wearing a purple shirt, hands already lifting her up and wetting her lips with the water pouch he had on hand. Vedrahgol snorted in derision at the question.

 _ **Healing? No dragon needs help with healing. We fight until the enemy has fallen off of their feet or we die. And Dovah heal at magnificent rates anyway, so.**_ Jaune could literally feel the dragon-soul's mental shrug, causing Jaune to unconsciously follow with an eye roll of his own.

 _Leave it to you to make things harder_. Jaune said teasingly to Vedrahgol.

Jaune needed this banter with Vedrahgol. After several hours of tending to the wounded, Jaune's mind and body was starting to slow down and drift off into space. Talking with the dragon helped Jaune keep his mind on the tasks at hand and took his mind off of how badly some of them were suffering. Even Vedrahgol could feel the tension in Jaune's mind, and started to sober up.

 _ **It seems as if the whelp was able to anticipate your next moves**_. Vedrahgol said. Jaune didn't need to ask to know that he was talking about Imaar. Jaune nodded though, wholeheartedly agreeing with the statement.

Imaar had anticipated that they would send in help for Atlas. So he had set up an ambush to bring down the airships. But it seemed as if Imaar hadn't left anything to chance, and kept a detachment of land bound Grimm close by as well, which started to attack once the students and teachers fell into the forest. Judging by how many people were injured, Jaune could only assume that there were tens of thousands of Grimm in the forest, waiting to strike.

In fact, Jaune was sure that there were several thousands more lying in wait for them, only to pounce once the camp lowered its defenses.

With that dreary thought in mind, Jaune whispered one of his new shouts, and looked around the clearing, trying to spot to see if there were any approaching Grimm.

While there were a few packs approaching here and there, the active guard posts set up with individual snipers were making quick work of dispersing them. As relieving as that should be for Jaune, there was something that not even the keenest eyes in the trees could see.

All around the clearing, there was almost a wave of black surrounding them. Sure, it was probably still miles away, but the sheer number that Jaune could see sent a shiver down his spine.

 _We thought that by doing this, we would be boxing in Imaar… maybe though… maybe he has_ us _boxed in_ , Jaune thought worryingly.

But at least there was some good news. When Jaune looked overhead, he could see the faint impressions of humans, flying in through the canopy. It didn't take long for everyone else to notice as well, as the force of the airship blasted their way through the trees. Taking every little victory that they could find, the Hunters and Huntresses-in-training raised their arms and cheered, happy that something was finally going their way.

It didn't take much longer before the airship appeared on top of the clearing, slowly hovering its way down before landing. The doors to the ship popped open, and about a dozen people came out with medical equipment and a few stretchers, ready to transport the wounded back to safety. Another figure appeared, and ran towards Professor Goodwitch, a worried look on his face.

The man approached the blonde witch quickly, and pulled her aside, whispering something into her ear. Jaune's stomach seemed to have formed another pit, as he saw Professor Goodwitch's face crease with worry. The man seemed to ask another question, which made the teacher pause for a second, before shaking her head and saying something back. The man finally nodded, then ran back to the unit helping the injured.

Professor Goodwitch pinched the bridge of her nose, taking a deep breath.

"Students!" She called out, attracting everyone's attention to her. "Good job on preparing everything in a timely manner, as well as aiding those who are in need. Unfortunately, with that comes bad news." The crowd stirred a little, uneasy, but ultimately, not very surprised. After all, they wouldn't be Hunters if there weren't surprises lurking in every corner.

"It seems that the while the airship was overhead the forest, they spotted hordes of Grimm approaching our location. The Grimm will be here in only a matter of hours. It was reported that there was many different type of Grimm." The professor took another deep breath.

"And they are also bringing in flocks of Nevermore."

Again, the muttering started, everyone knowing the implications of a flock of Nevermore covering the site. They would prevent any and all airborne vehicles from landing, and with that, delay or even stop the students from getting to the frontlines of battle.

"This is why all hands that are able will be needed at this moment! We need a barricade to be created, as fast as possible! The deeper the trenches, the higher the walls, the better! I also need the following people to me: Miss Coco, Mr. Arc, Mr. Blint, and Miss Gale."

Head rising when his name was called, Jaune saw that the professor had gotten very serious, her eyes hard. With haste, Jaune arrived right next to the other three called up.

"I am going to assign groups to the four of you. Miss Coco, you and your assigned teams will be building the ramparts, use any material necessary to make a solid wall. Mr. Blint, I will have two teams, as well as yours, to scout and harass the lines that are advancing us. Traps, mines, distractions, anything to slow them down as much as possible while keeping your force alive." The two leaders nodded and went on their way, calling out orders to the teams that Professor Goodwitch had pointed to while talking to them.

She turned her attention on the last two leaders.

"Miss Gale. I would like for you to work on the trenches, as well as build anything that will help that will help fire back over the walls. I know you're a talented engineer, and I'm going to be pairing you with other teams of the like. We only have a few hours, so make as much use of it as possible." With a nod, the girl left to gather up her force as well. Finally, the blonde witch turned her attention towards Jaune.

"Jaune. I'm assigning you three teams, along with you own." She pointed them out. Team RWBY, CRDL, and another team… team LAVA if Jaune could remember correctly. Professor Goodwitch continued, "I need you to set up something to pull away any Nevermore. We need to make sure the Airships can land, or else no one here is making it out. Understood?" Jaune nodded.

With a nod of dismissal from the professor, Jaune sprinted to the teams, calling out to them. As they turned their attention to Jaune, he barked out orders while his mind worked furiously.

 _I have a feeling that Professor Goodwitch isn't just assigning me to air patrol because of Nevermore._ Jaune thought to himself, as well as the resting dragon inside of him. Vedrahgol was quick to agree.

 _ **I don't know how many of the corrupt Grimm there are in Remnant, but I would not be surprised to see if another one hinders our progress**_ **.** Jaune nodded, trying to think of anything that could counter another dragon attack.

With a few distracted callouts, Ruby, and Levine, the leader of team LAVA, climbed the highest trees and set up sniper defenses, and with the help of team CRDL, also created artillery platforms that would support air defenses.

While that was happening, Jaune continued to consult Vedrahgol for some way to fight against a dragon.

 _I don't need to beat the dragon._ Jaune thought, _all I need to do is distract it for long enough that we don't have to worry about it trying to wreck the camp._

Vedrahgol nodded. _**Correct. Hm. Actually, I may have a few shouts that will aid us in battle. Let me show them to you…**_

And with that, Jaune continued to multitask and command the groups while learning a few shouts that would specifically hinder an attacking dragon. Without keeping track of time though, it was a blur of activity before Blint and his group burst through the clearing.

"They're coming!" Blint said, breathless. For half a second, everyone froze, surprised at the interruption to their almost trance-like working state. Then, the whole camp erupted into organized movement.

It was time to show what it was like facing an army of prepared Hunters and Huntresses.

The area ahead of them was silent, as everyone was in their ready stances, prepared to decimate anything moving.

Finally, with a rustle of bushes, a group of Beowulfs emerged, roaring in rage. And only a few seconds behind them were hordes of all types of Grimm, from Boarbatusks to Ursai. Without a battle cry of their own, every gunman raised their weapons and fired, almost continuously against the line of Grimm. Rows upon rows of Grimm toppled to their knees, disintegrating before their very eyes. Any Grimm that was fortunate enough to escape the firing squad was unfortunate enough to meet the blades of the ground troops, cutting through the monsters with ease.

Jaune stayed in the back, but not because he was afraid, nor was it because he was being useless. With a smart use of his shouts, Jaune continued to track the Grimm, from the ground ones to the airborne, and made sure that this information was relayed to the Professors, who were acting as the field commanders to the Hunters and Huntresses before them. Without the ability to hide from sight, any attempt at an ambush was quickly defeated before it could even be mounted.

Jaune kept an eye out for the airborne Grimm, trying to find a particularly large flame that would signify a dragon coming down upon them. But the only things that he could see were the smaller, darker shadows of Nevermore and the slighter larger Griffons.

 _I don't get it_. Jaune thought, a little frustrated. _This can't be it. Imaar couldn't possibly think that this would be enough to take down a whole group of Hunters, did he?_

Vedrahgol also stirred uneasily. There was something that was raking over his scales, something that told him this wouldn't be as simple as they initially thought it would be. But that had to be impossible. The only thing that could throw off such a solidly structured group at this point would be another Dragon… unless…

Jaune was knocked off of his feet as a resounding boom blasted the center of the camp into pieces. The fighters became a little scattered, and the perfect system that kept the Grimm at bay faltered just long enough for the Grimm to advance close enough so that explosive wielding Hunters, like Nora, were forced to revert to their melee forms.

 _What in the shattered moon made that explosion?!_ Jaune looked around, trying to pinpoint the source of the destruction. As the smoke cleared, he could see a crouched form in the middle of the crater, which straightened up and revealed itself to be… humans?

"What?" Jaune said his expression dumbfounded, as four girls rose out of the crater, wielding weapons. Eyes shining a dark hue of purple, and their auras shimmering the same color, the girls started to attack the camp from the inside.

One of them kicked up whirlwinds of all sorts, blowing away defenses and tents, and causing general disarray, while another settled back and shot arrows. The other two also kicked up a lot of trouble, one with her throwing knives and the other blasting shockwaves of fire towards tightly packed groups of Hunters.

With the sudden appearances of the girls, the rigid defense shattered, and the camp overrun with Grimm.

Jaune drew Crocea Mors, panicking. _How's this possible? I thought I would be able to see the difference between human and non-human?_

 _ **Well the answer's obvious then, isn't it?**_ Vedrahgol said, his voice filled with impatience, _**these girls aren't human! Now kill them before they kill any more of your humans!**_

Without another word, Jaune went to engage the enemies, sword clashing against the spear-wielding girl.

"Why are you guys doing this?" Jaune demanded to know. The girl looked at Jaune, as if wanting to say something, but instead mumbled, "hrrrngh" before continued to attack Jaune. Without another word, Jaune focuses on fending off her attacks.

 _For once, just once, I'd love it if things went our way._ Jaune raged at the world.

The world seemed to answer back, in a cacophony of steel and screams.

* * *

 **Omake**

* * *

"Ruby! What are you doing?"

The brunette reaper spun her head around to look at a shocked Yang, who seemed as if she was half a second away from pummeling the… thing that was standing right next to her little sister.

"Yang! I was just talking about you! Come over here!"

Yang looked a little uncertain, but was caught off guard by the welcoming smile that both of them sported, and hesitantly stepped forward to join the two of them.

"So Rubes… you wanna introduce me to your new friend?" Yang asked, not taking her eyes off of… of it.

"Oh, well, you see, it's a pretty funny story and all. I saw him while I was walking back to the dorm and was like, wow, that's so cute! Then he was like, oh, I'm lost, can you help me? And I was like, sure I'd love to help, like wow, you're so cool and stuff. Anyways, we walked around campus for like, _hours_ , and couldn't find—"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Yang interrupted, holding out her hands to stem the rapid flow of words leaving Ruby's mouth. "How did you know he was lost?" Ruby tilted her head to the side a little, not understanding the question.

"What do you mean? I just told you silly, he said that he was lost!"

Yang looked back and forth between Ruby and the dog, trying to make sense of what Ruby was saying.

"Okay." Yang said, breathing out through her nose. "Let me get this straight. You found a dog and it _told_ you that it was lost?"

"He." Ruby corrected, "He was lost. Yes. Say hello Barbas!"

Yang was about to open her mouth to ask where in Oum's mighty underpants Ruby had thought of the name Barbas, and actually named the thing, before it opened its mouth and started to speak.

"Hello there, sister of Ruby. I am hoping that you'll be just as hospitable to me as—"

"Holy Dust from the pits of Schnee, it's talking!" Yang shrieked out, reflexively lashing out with a gauntlet and letting loose a shotgun blast that hit Barbas right in his snout and pretty much eviscerated the whole dog into a giant red mess.

"YANG!" Ruby gasped in horror, "You just killed Barbas!"

"It was a speaking dog! There's no way it wasn't a Grimm!" Yang countered, pointing at the spot where the dog was standing.

"A Grimm? A GRIMM? Then why's there BLOOD EVERYWHERE?!" Ruby yelled furiously, gesturing to the whole of the room. Yang turned to see blood on the floor, dripping from the ceiling and a few spots pattered onto Ruby's face.

"I… uh. Whoops?" Yang said meekly. Ruby's face was starting to turn red with anger.

"I can't believe you did that!" Yang waved her hands around, trying to laugh it off.

"Oh come on Ruby. It was just an accident. What's the worst that could happen?" Yang laughed nervously, rubbing the back of her neck.

A few dimensions away, Clavicus Vile raised his head, suddenly feeling a little… freer.


	17. General Escape

**A/N: Woo hoo! Another chapter. On that note, I've decided that playing Witcher isn't going to have any adverse effects to my writing... nope. Not even a bit. XD Tell me all what y'all think.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

Steel rang against steel, as the hunters faced off against the girls, as well as the Grimm. With the stark surprise that had ambushed them, the camp was in complete disarray. There was so much screaming coming from everyone that couldn't be deciphered. Some were screams of pain, some were orders from the teachers, some were simply just the howls and growls of the Grimm themselves.

All in all, students, as well as some teachers, were beginning to fall like dominoes. The first one to be surrounded by the Grimm was a nameless first-year, torn apart by the horde. Once he fell, several more people simply ran away, tucking in their weapons and hoping that their speeds would outmatch the Grimm.

With morale at its lowest, it didn't take much longer for the few dozen runaways to become a hundred, two hundred, to the rest of the camp.

Jaune was one of the last to go, trying valiantly to hold off the onslaught, but was grabbed by Yang, who simply snarled for Jaune to pick up the pace. With one last shout that blasted a few of the Grimm and one of the girls into the massive horde, Jaune sheathed Crocea Mors and ran at full sprint along with Yang.

"Where're the others?" Jaune asked quickly, wanting to get any information out as soon as possible, before they had to conserve their breath just for running. Yang shook her head in frustration.

"I have no idea. I got separated from them when the blast hit." Yang said shortly.

With gritted teeth, Jaune nodded and continued to place one foot past the other, getting as much distance between the him and the surging black sea behind him.

"There has to be a way to slow them down!" Yang shouted out, turning briefly to fire a few blasts into the crowd, making some of them stumble when they die.

Jaune bit his lip, before releasing the shout he used yesterday, causing a mass of Grimm to suddenly turn against their own kin. While that helped slow down the mass, it caused Jaune to stumble as his breath squeezed out of his lungs and he lost his balance. Leaving no time to think, Yang grabbed onto Jaune and half carried, half dragged him away, knowing that any moments of hesitation is as good as death for the blonde boy.

"Thanks Yang." Jaune panted out, trying to get his feet back under him. The brawler simply grunted, continuing to focus on moving as quickly away as possible.

With the line held up, even for only a second, Jaune and Yang were able to make their escape behind several other students before a loud voice was heard.

"Everyone stop!"

Professor Port stood in the front, yelling out on the top of his lungs.

"We have a new plan! We're meeting the Mistral ships at the midway point! Everyone follow Professor Goodwitch, she'll show you the way!"

With that, Professor Goodwitch raised her riding crop into the sky and pointed to the direction that they were heading in, and ran, causing everyone else to follow suit. Jaune and Yang slowed down once they reached Professor Port, confusion written on their face as they saw several of their teachers simply standing there, along with Professor Peach and Professor Oobleck.

"Aren't you guys coming?" Jaune asked. The professor gave a sad smile, hefting his axe-gun onto his shoulder before giving a vigorous pat on Jaune's.

"We teachers have a responsibility of protecting our students, Mr. Arc. And if that means we have to hold back thousands of Grimm so that you all will make it to the airships safely…" Professor Port frowned hard, his posture shifting. For once, Jaune could see the Hunter Professor Port—no, Peter Port was, and still is. "Well then so be it." The mustached man said, before turning his attention onto Yang.

"Oh, and your sister was looking for you Miss Xiao-Long. Said to tell you that she's got everyone with her except Jaune, which you've located thankfully."

Yang's expression melted into one of relief, giving a bright smile to the Professor. "Thanks there Prof."

The man nodded, before making a shooing motion with his free hand. "Now go. The further you can get away from the fighting, the better."

The two of them nodded and started to run again, catching up to the group in front of them. Jaune turned around one last time, just in time to see the horde appear among the tree line, and the teachers all ready with their weapons drawn.

"Another story for me to tell when I get back to Beacon! Ah ha!" And with that, the Professors leapt into action.

Jaune turned around again, frustrated that he couldn't help the professors out.

 _ **You will be helping them, Maldovah. Once you are ready to fight again, you will strike the heart of Imaar's forces. And be the one to personally take his head.**_

Keeping those… slightly dramatic, slightly bloodthirsty words in mind, Jaune cleared every other thought in his mind, focusing on ways that would help with their ongoing survival. Taking a deep breath, Jaune let out another shout, turning around to direct it, not at the horde of Grimm, and not at the teachers.

Jaune aimed it at the trees.

"Yol… Toor Shul!" And with that, a blast of rampant fire streamed out from Jaune, striking the leafy parts of the woods and setting it ablaze, making an impassable wall of fire.

"That… should do it." Jaune wheezed, putting his hands on his knees and trying his hardest not to black out from the near-hyperventilation that he was performing to find any amount of air that would enter his lungs. A pair of arms wrapped around him, pulling him into a staggering walk.

"You know, as cool as that looked, I think you should find something you can do that _won't_ knock you off of your feet every time you use it." Yang said dryly, dragging him along.

"I'll… keep that in mind." Jaune replied back hoarsely.

And once again, the pair of them set off to catch up to the students that had run ahead, hoping that Imaar hadn't decided that a third surprise was necessary to put the students down.

They ran for what seemed like hours, but was probably only minutes, and constantly looked over their shoulders, afraid that something else might decide to pop out of the forest to maul them to death. Trained Hunters and Huntresses they may be, but after fighting several hundred Grimm and running who-knows-how-many-miles, it was hard for even them to feel confident about fighting off even a handful more of the dark monsters.

"Everyone stop!" While the yell was nowhere near as loud as Professor Port's could be, the authority rang out and caused anyone listening to instantly obey. It was hard to believe that even Professor Goodwitch could become fatigued, but it was evident in the way she paused after shouting the command, heaving deep breaths and being drenched in sweat. Being an experienced Huntress however, allowed her to become functioning in a few seconds.

"This is where the rendezvous point is. Now all we can do is wait." The blonde haired witch checked her scroll, eyebrows furrowing as she read something on the screen.

"We need to hold out for another half hour only! Take a break, but be ready to fight when you hear the Grimm approaching.

"Yang!" A speeding red blur tackled the brawler, knocking the girl over. "You're alive!" Ruby exclaimed happily. Yang gave a soft smile that was different from her usual smirk and rubbed the top of Ruby's head.

"Glad to see you made it as well Rubes." Yang said softly. Jaune smiled at the adorable sight, before getting tackled as well, this time by a certain orange-haired girl.

"Jaune! You didn't get torn apart by the Grimm!" Jaune gave a slight chuckle, before trying to pry himself from the death grip Nora had on him.

"Yeah, I'm fine Nora. I had Yang to watch my back." Jaune glanced over meaningfully at the girl, who gave a quick wink towards him before focusing her attention on her own teammates. Pyrrha also stepped up and gave a shy smile.

"I am also glad to see you're okay, Jaune."

"Thanks Pyrrha." Jaune said, returning her smile.

"So, now that the crowd's all here, what do you think we should do?" Yang said conversationally, keeping an arm around Ruby. For whatever reason, everyone's attention shifted towards Jaune, who balked suddenly at the attention that was being given to him.

"Uh. We should probably rest, like what Professor Goodwitch said. We wanna be ready if the Grimm attack again." Jaune wisely repeated the words spoken earlier, knowing that he didn't really have anything else to add to that. With the reminder of the incoming Grimm, Jaune took a deep breath and used Aura Whisper, glancing around the trees to gather information.

The black swarm was still to the south… but Jaune couldn't really tell distances with the shout. Gritting his teeth, Jaune also realized that he couldn't see any other flames besides the black ones that signify Grimm.

The teachers.

Where were they?

Jaune was so wrapped up in his investigation that when Yang laid a hand on his shoulder, Jaune nearly turned around and clotheslined the girl. Luckily for the both of them, Yang had a great reaction time, and deftly caught his outstretched hand.

"Woah there wild one." Yang said eyebrows high. Jaune froze, face looking a little guilty before he released a shaky breath.

"Sorry. I guess I'm just a little shaky right now." Jaune said sheepishly. Yang grinned, eyes twinkling.

"Don't worry Jauney. I think I may have the solution to your problem."

A brief second went by before Jaune raised a skeptical eyebrow at the girl. "I am not fighting you again."

A pout.

"You can't be serious." Jaune said, exasperation clear in his voice. "We're running away from thousands of Grimm, absolutely smashed, and you wanna fight _more_?"

Yang shrugged. "It helps calm my nerves."

The blonde boy didn't know whether he should laugh or cry at the statement.

"Can't you just… I dunno, meditate, or something?"

"…" Yang squinted at Jaune, almost as if she didn't believe what he had just said.

"What?" Jaune asked, shuffling backwards a bit under the intensity of Yang's watchful gaze.

"You're asking me to meditate." Yang stated. Jaune nodded, still not understanding the point. "You asking me." Yang repeated, with emphasis. "A crazy hyper girl whose personality is pretty much being energetic… to sit down and calmly not-think."

Jaune opened his mouth. And closed his mouth. And opened his mouth again.

"Okay, so maybe that wasn't the brightest solution." Jaune admitted.

 _ **Wait.**_

Vedrahgol suddenly decided to speak, which surprised Jaune even worse than what Yang had just done, making Jaune jump, stumble, and fall onto his face all in quick succession.

"Dust! Could you give me a warning next time you decide to speak up?!" Jaune said, so surprised that he forgot to convey it to Vedrahgol using his thoughts. Everyone around him looked at Jaune as if he had gone absolutely bonkers, which wasn't really all that far from the truth anyways.

Vedrahgol, being an ancient powerful dragon, completely ignored Jaune's outcry and continued to speak.

 _ **Maybe you are not too far off from the right path, Maldovah. I would like for you to ask Krienmon to meditate again. She is much like a dragon, and I would like to impart my wisdom on someone that at least has a shred of powerful grace within them**_.

Jaune frowned at the backhanded jab, turning to Yang.

 _ **Actually, on second thought, that might have to wait.**_

 _What do you mean?_ Jaune asked, confused. Jaune's question was answered quickly, but not by the dragon, nor by the girl standing next to him.

Instead, it was answered by the loud cacophony of roars as the monsters of the night emerged, ready to pursue the Hunters again.

And were quickly cut down by overhead fire, as the Mistralian airships hovered over the group.

As one of the ships laid suppressive fire into the trees, the other two lowered themselves, opening up their hatches.

"Quickly! To the ships!" Professor Goodwitch said, pointing to the transport.

Within seconds the body of students fled the scene, trying to get to safety before the Grimm got too close. A few of the braver students, namely Team RWBY and Team JNPR, slowly moved backwards, making sure to keep the line of Grimm occupied with them.

"Get on, get on, get on!" At last, the two airships rose into the air and took the place of the first, blasting the monsters into oblivion while the last ship opened its insides for the last groups to leave. Professor Goodwitch waved her riding crop and lifted the rest of the students up, practically throwing them into the hull before jumping into the ship herself.

Once the last airship rose to level, they all blasted off, getting as far away from the Grimm as possible.

Jaune looked down at the forest, seeing dots of black, and no blue.

 _Goodbye teachers. You'll be missed._

* * *

 **OMAKE**

* * *

BOOM!

The floor shook as Yang and her team cowered underneath a desk. Heavy footsteps echoed through the hallways as an enormous hulking figure stalked around to try and find the girls.

"I can't believe this is happening! Why is this happening?" Weiss hissed lowly, trying not to make too much noise. Unfortunately, the creature still seemed to be able to hear her and knelt down in front of the four, a mop of blonde hair covering his eyes.

"I FIND PRETTY GIRLS!" He roared, ripping the desk off its hinges and making the four girls scream in terror. With no little amount of quick thinking, Yang punched him in the face and let loose a shotgun blast, which did almost nothing except distract the guy long enough so that they could scramble away.

Bursting out of the classroom, the four of them sprinted to the end of the hallway, where Pyrrha, Ren, and Nora were standing, also looking absolutely exhausted.

"Guys! You made it out alive!" Pyrrha said in relief, something that the other two nodded tiredly after.

When even Nora was so pooped that she didn't have anything to add, that's when you know there's trouble.

"How did this happen?" Ruby demanded, everyone looking at Nora. With an injured expression and a little pout, Nora shook her head.

"It wasn't me this time, I swear!" Team RWBY looked over to Ren, who nodded to confirm that Nora was in fact, telling the truth.

"Then how the heck did this happen?" Weiss said, throwing her arms up into the sky. Pyrrha shook her head, recalling the events that had happened just an hour ago.

"I'm not completely sure. Jaune was talking to this strange man that had a mask with horns on it and was nodding excitedly about something… and then he shouted out 'I want to be the strongest man!'… and well." Pyrrha shrugged awkwardly and gestured to the monstrosity, who had simply walked through the wall, ignoring the door that was a few inches to his left.

"WHY PRETTY GIRLS RUN? I SHOW WORLD TO YOU!" With another roar, the being charged forward, making the group of seven scream and scrabble away again.

Several minutes later, they seemed to be cornered by a dead end hallway, with the blond haired ripped monster slowly stalking his way towards them.

"YOU ARE MINE!"

Suddenly, the world seemed to shift into grayscale, and everything around them freezing in time, Jaune seemingly moving the speed of a slug encased in gelatin.

A man appeared in front of them, donning a strange horned mask with carved inscriptions on it. They weren't sure how they could tell, but just knew that whoever was under the mask was smiling.

"I have a feeling that you all need some way to escape?" The man chortled, eyes flashing. "Well, *I might be willing to help."


	18. Introspective

**A/N: So Witcher 3 has completely taken over my life. Honestly, you're all lucky I'm still posting regularly. Anyways, I hope y'all enjoy and… no omake today. You can blame it on today being the first day of classes for me… but everyone knows it's because of Witcher ;).**

 **KingLuxion: Exactly the reason why I did that, Sir Watson.**

 **Cain: Soon. Very soon.**

###

Jaune was snapped out of his reverie when the dragon soul spoke its desires, speaking carefully to the knight.

 _ **Maldovah, I would like to commune with Krienmon.**_

Jaune nodded at the strangely polite request, even thought Vedrahgol wouldn't be able to see that, and picked himself off of the side of the Airship. Unfortunately, once his concentration on his thoughts was broken, his body seemed to remember that it was flying hundreds and thousands of feet up into the sky, and Jaune nearly fell onto his knees, dry heaving.

 _Bad idea, bad idea, bad idea._ Jaune thought inside his head, clutching his stomach with one hand. Vedrahgol groaned, almost wanting to slam his skull into one of the nearest walls.

 _ **I… I cannot believe that I forgot how weak your constitution is.**_

 _It's… perfectly commonplace… to have motion sickness._ Even while he was thinking about the statements he seemed to be constantly trying to take deep breaths.

"Wow, that's a new record. I thought you'd be trying to upchuck the moment we lifted off." Yang said in an amused tone, having squeezed her way through to Jaune the moment she heard him fall onto his knees.

"Yeah… what a… surprise." Jaune tried to insert some sarcastic cheer into his voice, but only managed to let his stomach travel a few inches further up his esophagus. Yang made an amused noise and couched down, laying a hand on Jaune's back.

"There there you big baby. Just let it all out." At the mention of letting it all out however, Jaune made a strange noise and swallowed very carefully, making sure to spend a little more effort to raise his head and glare at the girl, who at least had enough grace to look a little sheepish.

"That… was a bad choice of words." Yang muttered to herself. She opted to just simply continue rubbing Jaune's back without saying anything else, if only to help make sure that Jaune wasn't going to throw up in such tight quarters.

That would be bad for everyone here, including her precious shoes.

Jaune grabbed her hands, surprising her a little. With another shuddering breath, Jaune focused, trying to convey his next words without performing _Projectile Vomit: The Musical_.

"Vedrahgol… wants to talk. With you."

Yang made a little sound in the back of her throat, sounding a little surprised, as well as intrigued.

"Really? Well… okay then, I guess."

And without another word, Jaune focused as best he could on what he needed to do, knowing that it would help relieve him of his motion sickness for a little while.

"Ved… Rahgol." Jaune said this one calmly, which was something that the dragon inside of him approved of. Jaune was learning how to moderate his Voice, starting to unconsciously learn how much power he needed to put into the Shout to produce the desired effect.

If they weren't in a time of war, Vedrahgol would've been proud and satisfied on how fast the human was progressing. However, this _was_ a war, and it was against another follower of the Voice. This changed the circumstances significantly.

Vedrahgol was _not_ satisfied with the progress, and would only continue to push the boy to learn and absorb more, and much faster.

The dragon knew of only one person who could have really feasibly learned shouts in such a short time and turned out to become a force to be reckoned with… but Vedrahgol could only hope that it would be enough for Jaune.

The old dragon felt the stirrings of another presence in his cavern, and he pulled the girl's consciousness straight into Jaune, making the boy jerk in surprise and Yang's body simply collapse on top of Jaune.

"Woah…" Yang said in wonder, looking around at the spacious cavern, before turning her attention to the magnificent beast that was lying in front of her. Jaune on the other hand, was struggling to try and find a way to hold Yang physically in a way that wouldn't get him punched out of the airship while trying to manifest himself into the mental cavern as well.

"This is a pretty neat place you've got here." Yang said idly, turning around to make a full spin so that she could see everything. Vedrahgol nodded, happy to let the girl observe the cave for a few moments.

"Yes. But it is nothing compared to when you are flying through the skies." The grizzled dragon said, dipping his head as if to recall those skies that he had flown through.

"You miss it?" Yang asked, approaching the dragon slowly. Vedrahgol kept still, content to let the girl approach him, before answering.

"More than anything. Jul… humans do not know the power… the _freedom_ that comes with flying. And I do not mean in metal boxes that seem to crash frequently. I mean with your own will, and strength. Once one experiences that… Freedom will never taste the same."

Jaune almost wanted to laugh at Yang's open-mouthed expression that she had as Vedrahgol described the feeling of flying, and the desire that shined in her eyes as he described it.

"That's… actually really cool." Yang admitted. "The closest I've ever really been to doing something like that was during initiation…"

Jaune and Yang tilted their heads back to remember that day, chuckling at the events that happened on that day. It took a few seconds before Yang decided to broach the topic that was on both of the student's minds.

"You know, I don't think you called me over just to talk about your feelings of flying." Yang approached, her tone cautiously polite. Vedrahgol nodded, huffing out a breath before speaking, causing the cavern to rumble a little with his voice.

"You are correct, little one. I wanted to look into your soul."

"You wanted to what?" Yang said, completely caught off guard. Jaune also stared at the dragon, not sure what point he was trying to make. While the beast wasn't human, he knew enough to assume that the two blondes had no idea why he had said that.

"When we were fighting, I felt this… I'm not sure how to explain it." The dragon admitted, shrugging its wide shoulders. "But when the fighting started, I was side tracked for a brief moment as a soul flared brighter than the others. For a second I had thought that a dragon was fighting." Vedrahgol lowered his snout so that it was level to Yang's head, his eyes peering endlessly into hers.

"I can only assume that krienmon would be the source of my confusion. If you would allow me so, I would like to delve into your soul, and see if my suspicions are correct."

Still Yang hesitated, not sure she wanted the dragon poking around her soul, which was supposed to be something important to her.

"Is this going to hurt?" Yang asked a little anxiously, unconsciously crossing her arms. Vedrahgol opened his mouth before pausing a little.

"Actually… I do not know." The dragon admitted. "I have only received another dragon's soul, so I would not know."

Well, that reply sure didn't inspire any confidence in the blonde brawler.

"Can you at least tell me how you're going to do it?"

Vedrahgol nodded, happy to explain.

"Of course. Now, in the eyes of the dovah, a soul is your life-force, the substance that drives you and allows you to live. With this, dragons have discovered that the soul is like an ever present flame, burning brightly within your body." The dragon shifted his head once more, this time slowly letting the tip of his snout touch Yang on the chest, where her heart resided.

"The dragons have devised a way to gauge one's soul, one's power, and one's strength by experiencing the soul onto our bodies, where we can absorb and understand the soul."

With that explanation, Vedrahgol removed his head and lifted it up so that he would tower above the other two humans.

"So… will you humor this old dragon for a little bit, and let me experience the flames of your soul?"

The long-haired girl still looked a little uncertain, glancing down at her gauntlets and towards the majestic dragon.

"So… you want me to… use my semblance on you? Is that what you're asking?" Yang said, trying to clarify what Vedrahgol wanted from her. The dragon dipped his head downwards, acknowledging that Yang was correct.

"O…okay."

And with that, Yang closed her eyes and took a deep breath, trying to center herself. With an explosive breath, she opened her eyes, and—

"Wait," Yang said suddenly, throwing off the air of tension that she had just gathered a moment before. Even Vedrahgol jerked back, surprised at Yang's sudden interruption of her own process.

"Yes, krienmon?"

"This isn't going to hurt you, is it?"

The dragon gave a laugh that rumbled in his throat and around the cave. "No little one, dovah will feel your flame as if it was a warm patch of sunlight. Do not worry about harming me."

"Oh. Alright then." Yang said, closing her eyes and concentrating for another second, before her lips twisted into another frown.

"Wait."

"Yes… krienmon?" While Vedrahgol was slightly annoyed that this was taking longer than he was expecting, he kept his temper in check, wanting to completely reassure the girl of any of her qualms.

"This won't hurt _Jaune,_ will it?"

That… was actually a very good question. It was also something that the ancient dragon did not know the answer to. Vedrahgol had lived for hundreds of seasons, fought what could have been thousands of creatures, from humans to giant spiders to other dovah… but this was the first time he had even heard of a dragon residing inside a human body.

The semblance was a power of the soul, and while Vedrahgol was confident that his soul would be able to withstand a little fire, he did not know if his human host's soul could do the same.

"I… am not sure, krienmon. This circumstance that you see me in right now is something unprecedented. There has never been even a whisper of something like this happening to another dragon."

Yang's frown only deepened at the admission. With that, Yang shook her head, lips pursed.

"Well, I'm not going to risk anything that involves Jaune's soul then. Sorry if I've disappointed you there."

The dragon sighed, laying his head on a craggy rock nearby. The amount of air that exited the dragon's nostrils was almost the equivalent of a Bullhead's exhaust, and the two blondes made sure to take a step to the side if Vedrahgol ever decided to do that again.

"Very well. I will not force you to reveal your soul to me. I thank you for the opportunity to talk with you once again, krienmon." And with that, the dragon turned around and flared his wings out openly, covering the two humans and blinding them for a brief second.

When the two of them opened their eyes again, they were back on the airship.

Yang opened her eyes to see a chest in front of her. Pushing herself up, she discovered that the two of them had somehow managed to wrap their arms around each other, and Yang was practically only a half step away from being on Jaune's lap. Jaune, being an adolescent teenage boy, was quick to notice this, and was thankful that the blood had rushed up towards his face, instead of going in the opposite direction.

There was many things that could've been said about Yang, but bashful was not one of them. The beautiful girl gave a foxy grin at Jaune and actually tightened her arms around his neck, pulling him a little closer.

"So Jauney. Like the view?" She whispered sultry.

Jaune opened his mouth to try and answer, before the airship hit a rough spot of turbulence, turning his face green.

It didn't take much more for Yang to concede her defeat and jump off of the boy's lap.


	19. Siblings

**A/N: Ugh this one was just... not fun. Not fun. Sorry for how badly this one's written I just... blegh. Promise I'll do better. On that note, I'm gonna be putting the Omakes on hiatus cause I am simply running out of time to do any of them. Sorry for that, I know some of you really enjoy that :\**

* * *

"Jaune? Jaune." Murky voices kept insistently calling his name and shaking him, causing the blonde knight to wake up. "Jaune, we're here."

"Bwu-huh?" Jaune muttered in confusion, blinking his eyes open blearily.

Once his vision cleared up, the airsick boy could see Yang pointing to the windows, revealing the sun poking out of the horizon, making its daily climb upwards as the day began. With wobbly knees Jaune stood up to look out of the window, trying to see if there were any telltale markings of the camps that they were being deployed to. And realized that looking down out of an airship was probably the worst idea for him to do at the time.

"Urghh…" With another groan Jaune turned around, face green, and tried to find the floor again, curling up into a ball. Yang breathed a sigh out of her nose, scrunching the appendage at the pathetic sight of the blonde boy.

"You know, you don't really look like someone who's taken down two dragons."

Again Jaune groaned, wanting to say or do something back at the brawler, but afraid that any more movement would end disastrously for him. Another particularly loud groan was torn out of him when the airship jerked in the air a little, before descending into what Jaune assumed would be a Hunter camp.

Another jolt passed through Jaune as the airship landed and opened its doors, ready for the students to arrive on the sight. With the hatch doors barely half way open, Jaune was already running to freedom, even using a shout to zoom through and be the first one there. Unfortunately for him, he didn't realize that he had miscalculated, as the shout continued to move him forward along the slanted ramp, and proceeded to fling him high into the sky before tumbling down onto the ground.

For the fourth time in mere minutes Jaune let out a groan, slowly trying to pick himself up. A pair of legs appeared in his vision, causing Jaune to slowly raise his head up to look at who was standing in front of him. Instead though, he caught the edge of a skirt, and the briefest glance of panties before a steel toed boot fell flat on his face.

"Jaune, please, wait until you've said hi before you do that kind of stuff!" A woman's voice squealed, sounding not the least bit embarrassed that Jaune had glanced under her skirt.

Jaune scrambled back, eyes blinking rapidly, knowing that there was only one girl who would do something like that.

"Mika?" Jaune asked, confused but ecstatic that his oldest sister was here. "What're you doing here?" The blonde girl made a noise with her mouth, crossed her arms and rolled her eyes, jutting out her hips.

"Well, this seems to be something concerning _all_ of the Hunters so why not?" She said with an eyebrow raised. "I kinda like living here on Remnant after all." She faked a pose for Jaune like a swooning schoolgirl, batting her eyelashes prettily. "And after hearing that my cute brother was going to be here, how could I _not_ come?"

At this point Jaune's face was tinged pink, able to hear Yang's chortling behind him. Jaune lifted himself up and stood up, glowering at his sister. Mika didn't even try to pretend to apologize about that, waving it off and turning towards Jaune's curious friends.

"Oh? And who are _you_ guys? Hm." Mika tapped her finger on her chin, her gaze drifting from one person to the other.

"Hm. Well, you guys can't be his friends, cause y'all are _way_ too good looking and sociable for that." Mika decidedly deduced, ignoring Jaune's wounded cry of outrage. "And y'all can't be his team members 'cause y'all look _way_ too competent."

At this point Jaune seemed to have given up turning his back towards his sister and walking away with his hands in his pockets, shoulders scrunched up to his ears. "Can't ever catch a break with her around…" Jaune seemed to mutter.

Hearing that, Mika burst out laughing. "Oh come on Jauney! I'm just kidding. You don't have to take everything so seriously." With movement so quick that no one could even locate Mika for a brief second, the older sister appeared besides Jaune and wrapped her arms around him, pulling him into a chokehold-like embrace.

"I'm glad you've made it through Beacon without dying or getting maimed yet, that's a pretty big accomplishment." Even with the tone of teasing that Mika had in her voice, Jaune could still locate the gentle subtly that expressed her pride in him. With no little amount of effort, Jaune was able to wriggle out of her grasp.

Faster than the eye can blink, Mika appeared next to the group again, smiling widely. Holding out her hand, she greeted them.

"Hey there. I'm Mika Arc, oldest sister of the Arc family, and a graduate of Shade Academy."

As she continued to make her rounds of introductions, Jaune stood a little further back, thinking about his sister, and the fact that he hadn't thought about her… or any of them in such a long time.

 _It had been a rough year,_ Jaune thought to himself, _and I did_ kind of _run away from home_.

But Jaune knew in his mind that whatever excuses he thought of wouldn't really be enough to pardon the fact that he hadn't contacted his family in almost a year. Dust, the only reason he had been in contact with anyone was because he needed to talk to his Dad about the dragon-soul.

All of a sudden Jaune felt like a terrible brother.

"Argent. And Quinn!" Jaune's eyes widened as he suddenly remembered his two sisters that were also Hunters, and had opted to try to go to Shade academy like their older sister. The same academy that was in ruins after Imaar destroyed it. Mika waved her hand, rolling her eyes.

"Figures you'd finally ask about them _now_. They're fine. Most of the students from Dusk Academy were evacuated back to their homes while the fighting was happening. I stopped by to make sure they were okay." Lips curved a little sadly, eyes lingering on the blonde-haired knight. "Mom says hi, by the way."

 _Wow. This is way worse than getting attacked by Grimm. At least I can fight back._

"Alright I get it. I'm a bad son and a bad brother. I'm sorry." Jaune huffed out, lips pressed into a thin line. Mika crossed her arms and looked at her brother, eyes critical of how he stood and how he held himself. The Jaune that she remembered would have never looked like this.

Jaune stood with his shoulders down and relaxed, but his chest out, but not so much that Mika would consider it bravado. His eyes were steady, and his stance seemed to be loose and always ready.

Jaune wasn't the boy that Mika had comforted when he stubbed his toe anymore.

A soft smile appeared on her face before she walked over and hugged Jaune, leaning onto him.

"You've grown a lot Jaune. I'm proud of you." Jaune held his hands to the side for a little bit, surprised by the sudden affection that Mika was showing. Wrapping his arms around her, he leaned in and felt a warmth that he hadn't felt in a long time.

Familial warmth.

The hug lingered for a little longer before Mika stepped away and gave Jaune another once over, whistling to herself.

"Man, you really _have_ grown. If the rest of your body's proportional to your height you're gonna make a girl _real_ happy."

"Mika!"

Once again in her playful mood, Mika started to cackle before racing off again into a crowd. Jaune stood there, his arm outstretched as if hoping that she would have been magically caught by the gesture. Sighing, Jaune dropped the arm and rubbed the back of his neck, turning around to see Yang grinning mischievously at him, as well as the rest of the group looking a little winded by the suddenness of the Mika storm.

"Sorry about that guys. Mika's always been a little… hyperactive. Even at her age."

"How old _is_ she?" Ren asked curiously, before Jaune made a desperate wave of the hands to stop him from speaking. Once again Mika appeared out of nowhere and loomed over Ren, looking seductively terrifying.

"Now now there Jaune's teammate. You should know that it's not polite to ask about a woman's age." Mika touched Ren's chin and tilted it upwards, head alarmingly close to his. "Although I wouldn't mind getting to know you a little better." She purred.

Nora stood in the backlines, hands clenched, teeth grit and a noise in the back of her throat that sounded scarily similar to a chainsaw. At this point Jaune had his head in his hands, hoping that the nightmare would be over quick.

* * *

 **OMAKE**

* * *

"This is… absolutely ridiculous." Yang deadpanned, looking at the grinning man.

Clavicus Vile stood in front of them all, mask off, victorious grin. Shrugging innocently, the Daedric Prince held out his hands in protest.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Yang grit her teeth and looked half a step away from murdering the Prince.

"What do you mean? I swear I'm going to tear your arms off and stuff them right up your—"

"Ah ah ah," Vile said warningly, holding out a wagging finger. In an instant, Yang's lips slammed shut and sealed themselves, making Yang unable to speak at all. With a panicked, but muffled, cry, Yang's fingers tore at her lips, trying to separate them.

"Now, I don't know what you're talking about, because you guys _are_ the ones who shook my hand after all. And a deal is a deal. You can't go back on that, just as _I_ can't go back on my word. And since you all wished Jaune would return back to what he _truly_ was… well. It's not like many people expected this, did they?"

They all shook their heads, looking at Jaune with disbelief, and a little bit of awe and fear.

"Exactly. So for once in my entire lifetime… this isn't really my fault." Vile admitted, although internally, he wished that it was.

"I mean, who knew Jaune was born a dragon?"

The majestic Jaune-dragon rose its head up, golden scales twinkling in the light.

"Rawr?"


	20. An Old Enemy Appears

**A/N: Boop. Surprise!**

* * *

"The objective here is simple. We crush the Grimm and send the enemy running with their tails tucked in between their legs. We give no wiggle room to Imaar, as he gave none to us a few days ago, already thinking ahead and trying to cripple our forces. By now, he will have expected us, and we will have to show him that the information will do nothing for him. We will make this quick and painful. Do you understand?"

A thunderous roar echoed throughout the clearing, practically making the leaves and the trees vibrate along with them. For someone that usually only had the two emotional modes of calm or angry, Glynda Goodwitch had a knack for creating rousing speeches. She probably would have credited it to the fact that she had worked with one of the most verbose and 'interesting' men in the world, a burly name by the name of Peter Port.

Who had disappeared now, sacrificing himself so that the students would be able to escape.

Professor Goodwitch gritted her teeth a little, her heart aching, knowing that she had desperately wanted to make a stand with her colleagues as well, but also knowing that now more than ever, the students needed a teacher to guide them.

As the roaring started to tone down, Professor Goodwitch started to speak again.

"As much as I know every one of you would benefit in getting more rest… we have no more time for it. The Grimm forces have been moving since yesterday morning, and while the forces of Atlas are strong, they can't handle millions of Grimm rushing mindlessly towards them, even if they have the greatest wall ever created by mankind defending them. Sooner or later, those walls will fall."

The crowd was deathly silent, the prospect and numbers of the horde that they were going to be facing seeming to dawn on them. Many shifted uncomfortably. Professor Goodwitch nodded, knowing the effect her words had on them.

"And that is why the faster we can crush them, the faster we'll be celebrated as the heroes to stopped Atlas from falling. Now students, are you ready?!" Rarely in her life would Professor Goodwitch raise her voice, but here and now, with the mood carrying her, it would hardly be polite for her to whisper those last words. Holding up her riding crop, it wasn't long before everyone else in the clearing did the same, creating a strange sight as mech-weapons crowded the sky above them.

Another nod from the blonde witch before she started to speak again.

"Alright. Now, Professor Khan will be giving out instructions to everyone. Listen carefully, because as soon as he's finished, we will all be moving out."

Finally fulfilling her role, Glynda stepped down from the makeshift podium and returned to a nearby seat, settling down as a gruff looking man stood up and started to bark out orders.

Professor Goodwitch had learned very early on in her career on how to look menacing and focused while she was distracted. Another thing she could thank Professor Port about, she guessed. Already knowing what she was going to be doing later on, her mind turned to other problems, firmly trying not to think about her fallen… friends.

Imaar was a creature that wasn't of this world, that much was something that the professor concluded a long time ago. He looked very much like a human, acted and talked that way, but had an aura that made all of the experienced Huntress's hair stand on end. She was sure that any other full Hunter would feel the same thing from the man.

He wasn't human, and Professor Goodwitch had a feeling that if it came to a fair fight with just to two of them, Imaar would quickly deal with the situation, stomping the blonde witch before she could even scratch him. And yet…

The stern woman's gaze turned to find a mop of blonde hair in the crowd, along with it a determined face, wielding a sword and shield.

Imaar was powerful, that much was true. And yet it seemed as if he _respected_ the blonde boy. The way the rider moved seemed cautious and careful, the way Glynda would've moved if confronted with having to fight another full-fledged Hunter.

Glynda had seen Jaune fight. A lot, seeing as how she was his combat instructor. A fast learner, but still only grasping the basics of a fight. No, if there was something to fear from Jaune, it wasn't his fighting technique. It was his mind.

As a teacher, she would laugh at the statement, easily procuring documents, tests, papers that would prove that statement wrong. Jaune wasn't anything but a slightly above average student.

But at this point of life, Professor Goodwitch knew that grades never really showed someone's true potential. You could test and teach every single aspect of being a Hunter, from tracking to history to fighting, and there would always be hidden factors that could never truly be tested.

And that was something Jaune showed when he came to fight against people several times stronger than him. His thinking was fast, and strategic. And his semblance…

It was something Glynda had never seen in all of her years of teaching.

It was powerful, it was raw, it was… _frightening_.

Maybe Imaar was right in respecting Jaune.

No matter what the reason was, all Professor Goodwitch knew was that if Imaar was scared of Jaune, it was something that they needed to use to the fullest of their capabilities.

* * *

Imaar was anxious.

There was a pit in his stomach that he couldn't shut away, continuously roiling.

The thing that cursed him to fall into this world and locked him away from his true heritage, the one thing that could truly defeat him…

It was in this world.

Brushing his thumb on the strange flowing scroll, pictures continued to fly by as he looked on the ornate object that lay just beyond his reach.

An Elder Scroll. On Remnant.

It's power was something scientists on this world had been trying to figure out for decades now, but could never do so, ending up hurting themselves more than actually being able to learn from the object. In the end the people of Remnant decided that the object was dangerous in the wrong hands and shut it out, making it disappear in an undisclosed location.

Imaar chuckled a little under his breath. The people of Remnant weren't wrong. In the wrong hands the world could easily be rent asunder.

But…

Imaar's eyes widened under his mask, his mind piecing a plan together. Yes… this was something he could very much do.

First though, he needed to find the Scroll.

And then, this world will end.

* * *

In another world, Cinder Fall could have been a queen. A powerful-hungry, egotistic, mad queen, but a queen nonetheless.

In another timeline, Cinder Fall would _not_ have been thwarted by scraggly teenagers and betrayed teammates, and could have been the most powerful person to have ever laid eyes on Remnant.

In another place, Cinder Fall would be sane, and logical, someone that would point out the world's flaws and gladly lead the world into a utopia designed by her ideals.

But that wasn't the case, and the here, now, and on this Remnant, Cinder Fall was simply a madwoman who murdered many for a useless climb to power because of a ridiculous _fairytale_.

Now, Cinder wasn't someone to be feared, but someone to be pitied, strapped up into a straightjacket and placed in a padded room, glowing with magic that prevented her from ever drawing use of a Semblance, or even Aura.

 _What she wouldn't do to leave this place and murder everyone here_.

"And what would you do?"

The pyromancer twisted her head and part of her body around to look at the origin of the voice.

A man, gaunt and clothed in a dark cloak, face covered with a mask, stood before her, a staff held loftily in his hands.

"Who are you?" Cinder demanded. Even after being in this cell for a year, her instincts were sharp, and her mind was like a blade. And her mind was yelling at her to _run_.

"Your ticket out of here." He replied, before raising a finger. "Provided that you help me with something as well." If Cinder wasn't on guard before, she certainly was now. There could be nothing good that would come out of this.

"What would I need to do?" She asked cautiously. If she had been in a higher position of power, there would have been a straight 'no' as the answer. Then again, if she was in a higher position of power, this conversation probably wouldn't be happening.

"I need to find a certain artifact, and I have a feeling someone so… invested in the mythological might have stumbled across it."

This… was something new.

"You're interested… in fairytales?" Cinder asked slowly, making sure she wasn't misunderstanding anything. The man chuckled.

"Well… I guess this would be considered a fairytale. But there's a slight difference you see. I've seen this object. And what it does is _no_ fairytale."

Cinder had fallen, hook, line, and sinker. Unable to resist something that could potentially be so powerful, her lips curled into a cruel grin, eager to find the object of power.

"I would… love to help you find your object." Cinder purred, mind leaping with happiness, sure that she had found her ticket to a way out of this hole and a route to the power she craved.

And once she had her hands on it, she would make quick work of the man standing in front of her, and then nothing would stop her.

Funnily enough, Imaar was thinking the same thing.


	21. New Assignments

"Alright there kiddos, up and at 'em!"

Several groans rose from the campsite that the Hunters had inhabited as their commander, a teacher from Mistral by the name of Professor Major, yelled at them to pack and start moving.

Team RWBY and JNPR had been assigned as one of the front line skirmishers when assignments had been rolled out, each team given rations and equipment and sent on their merry way.

Or should they say… they were sent on their grim way.

Yang suddenly snickered out loud for no reason at all, making some of the students beside her jump a little in surprise. Jaune glanced over to see Yang grin and apologize before he turned his attention back on marching towards the destination Professor Major had pointed to. Apparently the hold from the Grimm were weak there, which was a pretty weird thing to think about seeing as they're mindless monsters. But apparently the only large-scale fighting anyone knows how to do is against other humans, which required strategy.

It worked… sort of. Sometimes commanders, many of which didn't want to enter a battlefield, forgot to factor in that Grimm were in fact, _not_ human, and made mistakes such as assuming that Grimm would retreat or try and become cautious when facing overwhelming forces.

They never did.

The Grimm fought until the last beast had fallen, trying to take as many of the living with them as possible.

The fighting… it was hard, to be honest. The students had trained pretty much their whole lives to fight Grimm, but no one was ever prepared to fight waves and waves of them at once. A team could handle several packs at once if they had good teamwork but…

When looking out onto the horizon, and seeing black covering the landscape, it was pretty hard to remember that most of the students could wade through and cut down dozens before tiring. Even the experienced Hunters, like Professor Goodwitch, had a hard time looking at the bright side of things.

The hardest part of the fight was remembering that there was no ceasefire. When the United Army went through a whole day of fighting and slaughtering thousands of Grimm, they still had to remember that there were more behind the ones that they destroyed, and those Grimm had no sense of self-preservation. At the end of the day, the students had to learn to retreat, even though they pushed the front back, and set a constant guard to make sure no wandering Grimm would stop by and raise havoc.

Jaune wasn't sure if it was Imaar's plan or not, but the Grimm were more coordinated than they should have been for the mindless forces of darkness, and attacked in waves. When the sun came down, every hour or so, there would be hundreds of Grimm appearing near the camps. Not enough to rouse up the full force of a campsite, but enough to wake up more than half of it, causing a steady decline of healthy sleeping.

By the end of the first week, most of the students were paranoid, jumpy, low on morale, and _very_ sleep deprived.

Luckily there was some good news in that there hadn't been very many sightings of Imaar, who had seemingly disappeared from the fighting early on, and with the combined forces of the United Army and Atlas as the anvil to their hammer, the Grimm forces had weakened just enough that Atlas was able to survive. The kingdom was stagnated, and slowly crumbling, but it was still alive and kicking, which is a lot better than the desolate wasteland that Vacuo was a week before.

All in all, the Hunter units weren't unhappy with their results, but they certainly weren't _happy_ with them either. After a good week of this, even the younger students were starting to pick up on this, and that didn't help morale either.

In fact, as Jaune and the others were moving to their next destination, Jaune was actually contemplating that, trying to rack up an idea that could be used to speed up the fighting.

 _I mean, I know I'm just one kid,_ Jaune thought internally, arguing with Vedrahgol, _but I have you, I mean can't you think of anything that would make the fighting faster?_ Vedrahgol snorted loudly, making the cavern he inhabited shake a little.

 _ **Of course. Send in a dozen of my brethren in and this war would end quite quickly.**_ Vedrahgol said drily. Jaune rolled his eyes, knowing that Vedrahgol knew that wasn't really an option. After letting out the momentary snark that he usually didn't display, Vedrahgol let out a sigh before shaking his serpentine head.

 _ **Unfortunately, with the resources that you humans have now, this**_ **is** _ **the best way that you can fight against Imaar's forces, at least until you get close enough to Imaar himself.**_

Jaune's lips thinned a little at the thought of the dragon rider.

A flash of wind rustled Jaune's clothes for a second, making him turn to look at a tired Ruby, who was sporting a small smile. With most teams dissolved into larger groups commanded by grownup Hunters, leaders were relinquished of their control over their teams, which wasn't something many of them enjoyed doing, but had no choice in doing. Without the role of leader to define them, they were picked apart for their other talents, and put to use on the field under different positions then they were used to.

In Ruby's case, along with being a scout and a sniper, she was used more often by the teachers as a messengers, as her speed allowed as instantaneous of a message as possible when scrolls couldn't be relied on.

"Hey there Ruby." Jaune greeted, knowing that she was probably working herself to the bone, and hadn't had much time to rest and talk to a friendly face. "You doing alright? You look a little tired." Ruby rolled her eyes, waving her hands casually.

"Psh, Yang said the same thing. I'm alright. I like helping." Usually when Ruby said something like that, it was accompanied with a large smile and a hop. Today was different, Jaune instead greeted with a strained smile that said _I like helping because it takes my mind off of the war overall_ than it did a simple _I like helping_. Jaune wanted to say something else, try to find a way to bring her spirits back up, but guessing that if she had spoken to Yang already, Ruby had probably heard everything Jaune would say to her.

"Well, what do you need from me?" Jaune said, mustering up as much warmth and friendliness one could muster after a half day of constant fighting. Ruby nodded and closed her eyes, trying to recall the message that she needed to recite to the blonde knight.

"Professor Goodwitch wants to talk to you, and she's saying that the fast you get there, the better." Ruby opened her eyes and looked seriously at Jaune. "Whatever she wants Jaune, she seems a little concerned about it, so you should probably hurry." Jaune nodded, thanking Ruby, who saluted briefly before disappearing in a rush of wind.

Message burning clearly in his mind, Jaune slowly fought his way out of the mass and started to walk in the opposite direction, heading towards the back of the ranks, where several professors were heading up the rear, making sure that there would be no ambushes catching them unawares.

Even though Jaune was walking in the opposite direction, with the simple numbers that were marching, it would still probably take him a good few minutes before he reached the back. With that in mind, Jaune started to jog, breathing steady.

 _ **You know,**_ Vedrahgol said thoughtfully, _**This would be a good time to work on your shouts. I've got one in particular in mind.**_

Jaune nodded, _I think I might know which one you're thinking of._

With a deep breath, Jaune focused himself and went through the routine of focusing on a shout's words and the power that lay under it, feeling something shift very slightly in his lower stomach. After so many days of simply just practicing how to muster the power of the Voice, Jaune could do it almost unconsciously, which made Vedrahgol smile with pride. Knowing just exactly how long it usually took for a complete novice to master something like this, Vedrahgol was happy with the progress that Jaune was making.

Then again, Vedrahgol was forced to be pretty happy with _any_ progress that Jaune could make.

Finally able to touch the power of the Voice, Jaune recalled the Words that he needed to shout, and infused the power with his vocal cords, making even his calm incantation shake the air, and seemingly gravitate attention towards him.

"Wuld Nah Kest!"

In almost an instant Jaune turned into a blur, causing many of the people watching him to yelp in surprise, before appearing several meters away, crossing what would take a normal Hunter at least a half minute to cross in a mere second.

The sudden deceleration wasn't something that Jaune had accounted for though, and when he stopped abruptly as the shout ran the end of its course, Jaune simply flew, head over heels before landing on his back.

Jaune simply lay there, face twisted in brief pain as he ignored the hushed laughter coming from the onlookers.

 _Alright… apparently no one told me I was supposed to be compensating for the lost speed_. Jaune thought, a little accusingly towards the dragon-soul. Vedrahgol shrugged, giving an excuse about how dragons did it naturally, unlike the lowly humans that simply stole their voice. Jaune ignored the last part and picked himself back up, scowling as he took a deep breath in, feeling his throat start to relax.

Another thing that Vedrahgol was teaching him, to monitor when it would be safe for him to Shout again. It would be handy if Jaune was able to monitor when he could use his Semblance again, and vital for him to be able to do it in battle. Jaune hadn't quite managed to get to that point yet, but he was working on it.

Taking in another deep breath, Jaune tried again, a little bit faster this time as he once again blinked and zoomed forward, not unlike what Ruby would look like using her semblance. This time though, when Jaune felt himself slow down, he kept himself at the ready and managed to keep himself upright as the shout ended. Given, he still stumbled a bit, but at least he didn't land flat on his face.

With a few more tries, Jaune was finally able to manage keeping his feet underneath him, and was even able to pull Crocea Mors out and swing it at the end of the final Shout that he performed.

Giving himself a little bit of time to admire the maneuver, Jaune sheathed the sword and looked at the professors, many of which had a faint impressed expression on their face.

"Ruby said you needed me for something Professor?" Jaune asked, turning about-face to continue marching with everyone else, making sure to continue pacing with the witch. Professor Goodwitch nodded.

"Mr. Arc. Good, you've come earlier than expected. Let's wait for a little while longer for the other leaders arrive so that we can begin."

Jaune nodded, and continued to march alongside the stern woman silently. It would've been awkward, but Jaune was able to retreat back into his mind and discuss with Vedrahgol, talking about strategies and techniques that Jaune would need to learn to continue to improve.

It didn't take much longer before Ruby appeared, the speed slightly ruffling her hair.

"Reporting for duty!" Ruby declared, saluting before starting to walk. Goodwitch nodded, repeating what she had said to Jaune moments before. Again the three of them walked in silence, save for Ruby's nervous outbreaks of quiet questions and observations that punctuated what Ruby thought was an awkward silence.

Jaune took his time to answer a few questions directed towards him, and nodded alongside any other statements that Ruby bothered to make, but was able to devote most of his mind back to his conversations with his closest (literally, I mean the thing's inside him after all) ally.

Finally, after a good bit of time passed by, the crowds parted for an exhausted looking Cardin, who was panting slightly and had his hands on his knees.

"Reporting… for… duty." He said in broken bursts, trying to gather some of his breath. Apparently, Cardin hadn't learned that it was probably a better idea to step out of crowds before trying to run through them.

"Ah Mr. Winchester. So glad you could finally make it." Professor Goodwitch said as if nothing was amiss, continuing to walk. Cardin had to pick himself up and jog a little more so that he could get up alongside the other three, confusion in his eyes as he spotted Jaune and Ruby.

"I'm sure you're all wondering why I asked you to be here." Professor Goodwitch said, looking so casual, as if she was talking to them during class while they were in Beacon.

"The fact of the matter is that we cannot continue to fight Imaar like this." The statement, while on the three students' minds, was delivered bluntly enough that they didn't have time to really react to it, instead looking a little bit dazed as the professor continued to speak.

"We need another way to help us gain a foothold in this war, and we've thought up of a temporary solution."

Professor Goodwitch paused as she heard Professor Major yelling out, telling them to stop and hunker down for the night.

"As I'm sure you've heard, while we haven't encountered any of them recently, Grimm of… bigger proportions have been causing enough trouble for us to have a hard time advancing."

Professor Goodwitch was talking about the dragons of course, something which was obvious to the students as they've heard enough rumors floating around on how Dragons seemed to single-handedly half the Army's advances. The fact of the matter was that it took too many people to take down the dragons, as their thick hides and incredible intelligence was more than a match for even the most competent of commanders.

There could be a lot said for Imaar, but he was a sound tactician, placing several of these monsters around and near points of the landscape that was impassable, preventing the United Army from moving any further until they put down the dragon.

It didn't help that there usually was more than one, causing many forces to simply not even attempt to fight and instead retreat, finding another avenue to advance upon.

Something that was getting progressively harder as time went by and Imaar somehow got a hold of more and more dragons, sending them out into the country-side.

The blonde professor resumed talking.

"We've decided to form a small force that will focus primarily on fighting these dragons, primarily the ones that are holding chokepoints." With a wave of her riding crop, a map sketched itself on the floor, with arrows pointing to three specific places on Atlas.

The Mountains of Sorrow, high and steep mountains that were impossible to climb over except for a few select tunnels and a larger pass, all blocked by large masses of Grimm and one particularly large dragon.

The city of Neige, which was a town surrounding the south entrance of the Frozen Wall. The town had fallen rather quickly when Imaar started the siege, the town falling into disarray and Grimm occupying it now.

The final point, taken the most recently, was the center of Atlas, the city of Kalte Nacht, surrounded by dozens of dragons and most likely where Imaar was residing as of this moment.

Professor Goodwitch let the information sink in before continuing to speak.

"We'll need to handle this one by one of course. No need to worry about Neige or Kalte Nacht before we get through the Mountains, which will be our first assignment."

"Assignment?" Cardin said, face scrunching up in confusion.

"First?" Ruby asked, tilting her head.

"We?" Jaune echoed, eyebrows shooting up to his forehead.

Professor Goodwitch nodded, not really agreeing nor denying anything until she spoke.

"Yes. Starting today, Teams JNPR, RWBY, and CDNL will be joining as Dragon Hunting Unit ARC. Any questions?"

There were a ton, but the three leaders were too preoccupied with what the professor had said just moments before, instead just standing there like limp noodles. Professor Goodwitch nodded.

"Good."


	22. Problems and a Plan

**A/N: So another Monday, another chapter. Fun fun fun! I hope y'all enjoy!**

* * *

When twelve people were picked up at the crack of dawn in Bullheads, given almost nothing but the clothes on their backs, and flown for an almost six hour flight, no one really blames them for being a little annoyed.

When that's all happened, and the leader of the group was practically _staining_ the interior of the Bullhead with puke, everyone turns up a little sour.

"I can't believe I have to follow orders from you."

Cardin crossed his arms, an impressive scowl on his face as he tried to aggressively stance himself to intimidate Jaune, who largely ignored him because he was still trying not to die from the Bullhead ride.

"What were they thinking, pairing up my team with the two of yours? This makes no sense." Cardin continued to complain, which everyone largely ignored.

Ever since the teams worked together to bring down Cinder last year, the vicious attitude that Cardin had when they first joined Beacon had almost completely faded, after a particularly bad run-in with a heterochromatic girl that almost killed him. Even if he's become more… reasonable to interact with however, that didn't really mean teams RWBY and JNPR were eager to work with them.

"I don't get it. I just don't get it."

"Alright we get it, can you shut up for five seconds?" Yang, who was already short in temper because of the reduced amount of beauty sleep that she was able to get in last night, finally snapped at the tall boy, fists curled up menacingly. Cardin pulled back, caught off guard by how angry the girl was and raised both of his hands.

"Alright, relax there, hot-head. No need to blow up on me." Cardin rolled his eyes, as if _she_ was the one that was being a nuisance. This didn't help Yang's temper at all, and with her eyes already blood red, it wouldn't take much longer for her to burst into flames from rage, something that everyone besides Cardin seemed painfully aware of.

"Blow up on you? _Blow_ up on you? Blow up on _you_?" Each time Yang repeated the phrase, a little flame seemed to flare up around her, causing some of her teammates to panic a little, although Cardin still didn't seem to take the hint that was about to bash him in the face.

"Yeah, sheesh. I swear it's like you're on your period or something."

That was pretty much the last straw for the brawler, as she lunched straight for him, an inferno raging around her as she snarled like a lioness on the hunt.

Cardin, unsurprisingly, yelped in panic before ducking down, hands over his head as he moved out of the way. Yang continued to pursue him, an angry scowl set on her face as she did so.

Everyone else seemed to stare a little helplessly as the scene unfolded, hoping that Professor Goodwitch would come in time before the twelve of them became eleven. Finally, after several minutes, it became apparent that this wasn't going to stop any time soon, causing the other two team leaders to have to step in and do something about it.

"Yang, stop! You can't kill him yet, we need him!" Ruby said in a pleading voice, practically tearing up as she tried to pull out a puppy-dog pout. Unfortunately, that only seemed to work when the person was looking at you, and Yang was too focused on eviscerating Cardin to do that. Jaune took the easy way out, deciding to stop them both by force.

"Gol Hah Dov!" Jaune shouted this one out quickly, and an almost ethereal aura coated the two of them, causing Cardin to shut up and calming Yang just enough that everything wasn't on fire anymore. It lasted for a few seconds before something seemed in _twang_ in the back of Jaune's mind, causing him to wince a little in pain before the aura's faded away, bringing the two of them out of Jaune's control.

 _ **I told you that you have not mastered this shout enough to use it effectively**_ **.**

Vedrahgol didn't seem to be lecturing Jaune, only reminding him of his limits as the dragon-soul continued to meditate in his lair. Jaune brushed it aside, already knowing that he wasn't going to be able to control the two of them for very long, only needing a second or two to calm them down though.

Cardin, now knowing what had just happened, looked around, confused as to what had made him stop running and talking. Yang however, knew exactly who was to blame for that. Turning to her fellow blonde, Yang almost seemed to bare her teeth in anger.

"What was that for?!"

Jaune paused, knowing that the next words that came out of his mouth would decide his and Cardin's fate. Holding both hands out in a stop motion, Jaune took what, in his mind, was the best course of action.

"Calm down."

A brief pause as the words sunk into everyone's mind and Jaune's face fell, knowing that was the exact opposite of what he needed to say. Even Vedrahgol, the dragon-soul who insisted that he didn't understand human interaction, closed his eyes in embarrassment.

Yang raised one fist up and looked dead into Jaune's eyes, growling one thing.

"Wrong answer."

As Yang lunged forwards once more and Jaune screamed like a very mature grown man with the voice of a twelve year-old girl, a shimmering ripple wrapped around Yang and hoisted her up into the air.

"What is going on here?"

Professor Goodwitch glared at the group, looking back and forth at the floating Yang and Jaune, who was still bracing for an impact. Jaune finally opened his eyes, peeking out from underneath his arms to see that he _was_ in fact, still in one whole piece.

"Well?"

As Professor Goodwitch spoke again, Jaune was finally able to cut short his celebration and cleared his throat, trying to look like he wasn't just cowering from Yang a few seconds ago.

"It was Yang," before anyone could say anything, Cardin decided that he would continue to make a mess of things, and started to speak. "I was just talking and she decided to go crazy and tried to attack me. Then she tried to attack Jaune!"

"Why you little—" Yang grunted as she tried to swim through the air to get closer to Cardin, wanting to stick her fist up somewhere uncomfortable for Cardin. With a lazy flick of her riding crop, Yang started to spin around slowly, making Yang's attempts at intimidation fall flat.

"Is that true?"

Ruby was quick to jump in and defend her big sister, shaking her head, her brunette locks whipping around.

"No! I mean, well, sorta, but not really! Actually, it was kind of Cardin's fault for making her so angry, but I guess she shouldn't have—"

"Enough." The witch wasn't sure if she really wanted to hear the whole story anyways, and _certainly_ not from Ruby, who would only serve to confuse the teacher more than enlighten her. With another wave of the riding crop, Yang was sent tumbling down, landing on her stomach with a small _oomph_. "I don't want to see this again. Is that clear?"

It didn't take long for everyone to nod enthusiastically, not wanting to be under the pressure of Professor Goodwitch's intimidating gaze. After making sure to look carefully at everyone standing there, the professor exhaled a little forcefully through her nose and pushed up her glasses, gathering up her thoughts.

"In a few hours, a force of two hundred will be marching towards the mountain passes, clearing out the forces of Grimm along the way. Our mission is to take care of the dragon that's holding the pass." Professor Goodwitch paused, looking at the faces of her students. "Any questions?"

Jaune blinked, surprised at the suddenness.

"Wait, that's it?" Jaune blurted out, confused. The combat professor raised an eyebrow, crossing her arms.

"Is there something that needs to be added, Jaune?" Jaune balked at the tone of voice for a second, before pushing through, intent on finding more information.

"I mean is that all we know about it? Like, do we know what it can do? How long it is? Can it speak?" Jaune pushed insistently for anything else they knew. All of Remnant's forces, and there wasn't _any_ type of information about the thing?

"Would that help you slay the dragon?"

"Huh?" Jaune looked at Professor Goodwitch, who had a focused look on her face, as if the next question Jaune answered would be something of great importance to her. With that in mind, Jaune tried to choose his words carefully, pushing down the strange feeling that was rising in his stomach and his mind, courtesy of Vedrahgol's restless mood. It was clear that the dragon-soul was on his guard as well.

"Would any information pertaining to the Grimm help you kill it?" The professor clarified, talking with a practiced patience of a schoolteacher. Jaune didn't answer the question, instead asking a question of his own.

"'You kill it'?" Jaune said, repeating the phrase. "Are you saying that I'm supposed to be killing it?" Professor Goodwitch let an eyebrow raise, her stance never changing.

"Of course. Why else would we bring you into this? We selected you because you seemed to work well enough against the Dragon-Grimm, seeing as how you killed two of them. We chose two of the teams closest to your team so that there would be the appropriate amount of teamwork displayed to take down the beast."

A rise of protests came from the large group, objecting to the fact that the teams well "all that close". Even though they _had_ worked together to bring down Cinder, it was more of a "forced survival" thing rather than a "we work well together" thing. Everything quieted down real quick when the blonde woman glared at them once more.

"Now, I'm sure you all have your own opinions of me, but I would like to believe that I am perceptive enough to know that CDNL does not like to share company with teams RWBY and JNPR. However," Glynda added, lowering her gaze, "I am hoping that you will all put that aside so that we can save some lives."

The area fell quiet, as the professor looked critically at the students, before seeing a change in their faces that she could agree with, nodding.

"Very good. Now Jaune, whatever we've discovered about the Grimm has already been sent to your scroll, as well as everybody else in this group. If there aren't any further questions, we will be facing the beast in roughly three hours."

"Wait!" Jaune said hurriedly, face a little panicked. The professor stopped, turning around to look at what was to be the leader of Group ARC.

"I- uh. You're not coming with us?" There was no way he could lead eleven other people. Jaune could barely lead his own team! Not to mention Cardin, whose pride was everything to him, would never agree to this. Professor Goodwitch arced a golden eyebrow.

"Why, of course I will be accompanying you. I think a little bit of extra firepower will not hurt us when facing the Grimm. And while you will be in charge of the group, I will be making sure that everyone follows your orders or… there will be consequences. Is that clear?" There wasn't much thought put behind the rest of the group nodding, and the professor didn't even have to use her telekinesis.

"Very good. I will be waiting for you all at the Bullhead." And with that, finally, the witch turned around and walked away, her heels clacking arrhythmically against the dirt and stone.

After the professor left their line of sight, everyone relaxed a little bit, Cardin deciding that now was _not_ the best time to continue what happened just a little earlier, and retreated to talk with his group. Jaune had pulled out his scroll, opening up the information that had been gathered on the dragon to form something of a plan to bring it down.

Yang, having been released from the spell that had held her, picked herself off from the ground and with a little bit of irritation, looked at her fellow blonde. Seeing as how there was no reaction to her look, Yang stood up fully, and strode over to the boy, intent on giving him a piece of her mind. Which most definitely was _not_ at peace.

Jaune, oblivious to the ire of Yang, continued reading the file, also continuously consulting Vedrahgol.

 _ **Agh, these humans have no idea how to profile the Dov! There are no lengths, no color profiles, no eyshapes and colors, the tenor of the voice, the—**_ Jaune interrupted his rant, feeling for the dragon-soul, but also still focused on the information that Vedrahgol _had_ gathered from what was read, not what was missing.

 _Is there anything that you can tell me at least? Anything weaknesses?_

The dragon scoffed, tossing his head pompously, which Jaune couldn't help but compare to a girl arrogantly flicking her ponytail. Something Jaune was pretty familiar with.

 _ **There might as well not have been anything written there at all.**_ Vedrahgol said, before sighing. _**We will just have to figure it out as we go along, and develop a plan after we've personally scouted the Dovah out.**_

 _Oh great. I love improvising during life-threatening situations._

The dragon rolled his eyes and grumbled something too low for his host to hear, something that Jaune was about to ask about before he felt a rough shove from the side of him, causing him to fall onto the ground. Looking up, he saw the irate Yang looming above him, arms crossed and the air rippling around her with heat.

"Don't you _ever_ do that to me again." Yang growled out. A few weeks back, Jaune probably would've wilted a little and apologized, but the dragon blood that seemed to save him and boost his physical prowess up wasn't going to let him take that one lying down.

Jaune slowly stood up, keeping constant eye contact with the girl standing in front of him. Brushing off the dust from his pants, he stood at his full height, making the cute bruiser raise her head just to keep looking at him. Something in his gaze caused Yang to take one steWep back. But just one, because there was no way that she was going to let Vomit boy push her back anymore than that.

Ignoring the voices in his head that was telling him to put the girl in her place (which he had finally figured out was a separate entity from Vedrahgol, although the dragon didn't seem to mind joining in every once in a while), Jaune took a few deep breaths and looked calmly into Yang's eyes.

"I needed a way to calm you down, and that was the fastest way to stop either of you from doing any more damage."

Again Yang growled, her rising anger enough to push away a bit of the wariness that she had displayed a few seconds ago.

"Well I think I deserve a little bit more than a casual wave of the hand to calm down, especially from someone who calls me their 'friend'." And with that, Yang disappeared, walking past him and towards her own group. Jaune's eyes trailed to follow the girl, lips pursed.

 _I… have a feeling I messed up somewhere._ Again the dragon rolled his eyes, settling his chin down onto the cavern grounds.

 _ **You humans and your courting rituals. I will never understand them.**_ Jaune snorted, going back to his scroll, reminding himself to have a face to face with Yang.

 _Let's focus on trying to survive the dragon before we worry about my problems with Yang. After all, I'm sure it'll be easier to figure out the dragon before I figure out Yang_. Jaune thought dryly.

 _ **Very well.**_ Vedrahgol said, relenting on the subject. _**Although I wouldn't worry about it too much. After all, you have a Dovah who has single-handedly defeated a flight of Fodovah. You and your slaves—er, friends will be in good hands.**_

 _Well isn't that a relief._


	23. The Mountain Dragon

**A/N: Enjoy!**

* * *

It was another harrowing journey on the Bullhead for Jaune, jerking back and forth from the turbulence and making him generally miserable. After an eternity, Jaune was finally able to pick himself off from the ground and shook his head, finding appropriate bearings to allow his legs to function vaguely human-like. Everyone looked sympathetically, as always, at Jaune, except Yang, who still refused to look at the sickly boy.

As always, when the door hatch opened up, Jaune was the first one to exit, performing his ritual of praising the ground and vowing to never leave it again. This time however, it was interrupted by Yang rudely bumping into Jaune, not even bothering to apologize as she strode past. Jaune frowned, making note that he didn't need much more encourage to talk to her.

The clacking of high heels close to him attracted Jaune's attention, causing him to turn towards Professor Goodwitch, who simply leveled her gaze at him.

"Whenever you're done Mr. Arc." She said calmly, causing his cheeks to tinge a little in embarrassment. With a quick nod, Jaune lightly jogged to catch up with the group, ignoring Cardin's sniggers. Other than that though, there was little other noise, as everything had been discussed beforehand, plans and backup plans ironed out to prepare to siege the pass of the Mountains of Sorrow.

Jaune snorted, thinking of the cliché name. Who came up with this stuff anyways?

As they got closer to their destination, Jaune was able to appreciate the size of the mountains that blocked their passage. The mountains truly were colossal, bunched together in tight formations that made it difficult to navigate through with any means of transportation, barring maybe an orbital landing.

There were few valleys, and fewer passes through the mountain range, the bases of the peaks so wide around that Atlas could barely fund for a half a dozen tunnels through them.

Team ARC was soon approaching the biggest pass of the mountain range, almost half a mile wide across, which would allow forces to be moved out of Atlas at much more reasonable speeds than if they were going to scale the mountaintops to arrive outside of the country. Unsurprisingly, it also worked in reverse. With the pass freed of the presence of Grimm, the United forces would be able to hinder the Grimm forces much more efficiently, and slow down its advances even further, giving the Atlas forces even more time to breath.

As the ground below them dipped downwards, Jaune's breath caught at the scene of almost a hundred Hunters and Hunters-in-training standing on an open field, some milling about, some focused on the upcoming task, and all standing and ready to fight.

This was extremely important to stopping Imaar, Jaune realized.

This didn't help his nerves at all, Jaune having to grip onto Crocea Mors a little tighter, letting out a few steadying breaths. Yeah, there wasn't any pressure at all. After all, Jaune was just the leader of a task force that was supposed to be getting rid of the biggest obstacle to the United Forces advancement.

Yeah.

A few weeks back, Jaune would've simply shook his head and turned tail, running as fast as he could in the opposite direction. He wanted to be a hero, yes, but even the most idealistic hero wasn't _suicidal_. Dust, even now, with the power of a Dragon's soul backing him up, Jaune wanted to hide under a rock at the enormity of the task at hand.

 _ **We will do fine.**_ Vedrahgol said, in a rare mood to reassure his host. _**You are strong, and you will not be alone in this.**_

Jaune smiled at Vedrahgol's attempt to cheer him up, thanking the dragon mentally, as well as patting his sword as if it was a pet on his hip.

Cardin was standing next to Jaune, a little skeptical, looking back and forth in confusion.

"Wait a second. Where's the big, bad Grimm that's stopping us from crossing?" Cardin said almost derisively. While Jaune wasn't sure he liked how dismissive Cardin sounded, Jaune had to agree, as there was no Dragon in sight. And it wasn't as if Dragons were small enough to hide somewhere.

Right?

Professor Goodwitch raised a finger, pointing to the pass. Jaune narrowed his eyes to try and look a little closer, to discover a lone figure with a controller in his hands, along with a strange machine next to him.

At some unknown signal, the figure fiddled with the controls, and the contraption, which Jaune soon discovered was a drone, lifted up into the sky, zooming forward towards the pass between the rocks.

At first nothing happened, the audience looking with bated breath, waiting to see if anything would occur. It lasted long enough that some people (Ruby, Cardin, etc.) started to move around again, a little restless at the lack of action.

It was a surprise to everyone when the drone jerked hard to the side, going fast enough that it crashed into the side of the mountain. A few people yelped in surprise, eyes wide at the suddenness of the destruction of the drone.

"Wow." Nora said simply, looking impressed. It was something impressive though, the drone flying at such speeds to be flung in a completely opposite direction.

Jaune's mind raced, Vedrahgol speaking to him. In the brief second before the drone had been pulled aside, through Jaune's eyes Vedrahgol was able to spot almost a barrier of wind whirling before it.

Vedrahgol knew of one Dragon that used to do something like that, preventing almost anything or anyone from approaching the Dovah unless he wished, or if they knew a specific shout. This was quickly relayed through Jaune, who started on the long process of understanding and memorizing and meditating on newly learned Words of Power.

Team CDNL looked at Jaune in bemusement as the blonde knight seemed to hunker down on the ground and cross his legs, eyes closed.

"What's he doing?" Dove asked, looking at Jaune while he straightened his back and placed his hands onto his knees, Jaune's mouth fluttering as he started to mouth words that would be incomprehensible to almost anyone else on Remnant.

"He communing with an ancient dragon to find a way to get us through the pass." Yang said drily, her arms crossed as she kept her gaze on Jaune.

"Huh?" The explanation did nothing but confuse them even more, something that Yang saw was evident when she looked up at the confused stares. Shaking her head slightly, she dismissed them.

"Never mind." Yang muttered, before marching away from the group.

"She really _is_ moody today." Blake observed quietly, before making a decision and went to follow Yang, intent on talking to her. Ruby frowned at the scene, but decided that now wasn't the best time to interject with some sisterly love.

Meanwhile, Jaune was trying to ignore what was happening behind him, continuing to concentrate on the Words that he needed to learn to help the Hunters out. But never let it be said that Jaune wasn't an eighteen year-old, making it difficult for him to stay focused on the task for long.

 _ **Focus, Maldovah!**_

With the gentle encouragement from Vedrahgol, Jaune turned back to the task at hand, continuing to meditate on the Words of Power, shaping them appropriately before taking them into himself, bringing the power forwards. Eyes snapping open, Jaune was ready. He only needed one thing.

"Professor Goodwitch." Jaune said, his voice vibrating slightly, and his aura briefly flaring up as he left his meditative state. The chaperone peered over her glasses, waiting for Jaune.

"I need to get close to the pass." Jaune explained, pointing at it. "I know of a way to dispel the blockade." The professor raised an eyebrow.

"Are you sure about this Mr. Arc? After all, the United Army has been trying to find a way to get through for the past week." Jaune let out a shaky breath, nodding.

"Yeah. I just need to get close to the pass."

Professor Goodwitch stared at the boy, her eyes almost piercing as she tried to figure out if it was worth the risk for her to allow the students to get close. Finally she nodded.

"Very well. I will accompany you and your team."

With that in place, Jaune called unit ARC around him, ready to discuss what needed to happen. Once they all came around, Jaune hesitated, not sure what to say.

"Just… just get ready." He finally said, the best explanation that he could think of.

"Get ready? Get ready for what?" Yang asked, frowning. "It's kind of hard to get ready for something if we don't know what it is." Jaune turned to her, wincing.

"I, uh. I don't know what's going to happen really." Jaune confessed. "Just. Get ready for anything. Trust me."

At the last words, Yang scoffed and rolled her eyes, crossing her arms and settling towards the back of the group. Jaune pursed his lips, about to say something before Professor Goodwitch intervened.

"Is there anything else you need of us, Mr. Arc? Besides preparing for something that we don't know will happen, that is." Jaune sighed, nodding.

"Yeah. That's pretty much it. Let's move."

At top speed, Hunters could make an insane amount of headway compared to 'normal' humans. At top physical form, a civilian could finish a mile in five to seven minutes. Hunters could cut that down to two or three when they pushed it.

Unfortunately, not sure what they would encounter getting closer to the pass, the group didn't want to waste all of their energy sprinting a mile and a half at top speed. In the end, with a light jog, they reached the foot of the mountains in close to nine minutes, none of them looking the slightest bit out of breath.

The mountains looked even more imposing up close, Jaune having to crane his neck almost ninety degrees to see the peaks. As they got closer to the pass, it got easier to see the faint ripple of fast winds, which were impossibly rushing chaotically between the two mountain edges, preventing anyone from going any further.

Jaune squinted at the barrier, before nodding to himself, sure that he was at a good distance.

 _Alright,_ Jaune breathed out, _just like we practiced._

"Lok… Vah Koor!"

Just like with the first shout that he had ever used, a force of wind sped outwards from his mouth, almost visible by the ripples. The cloud of force hit against the wind barrier, and seemed to spread through it, infusing the barrier.

For half a second, nothing happened. Then the wind barrier seemed to bulge outwards, before exploding, winds scattering across the valley, threatening to blow them all away if they didn't brace against the ground properly.

 _ **That was one powerful wind barrier.**_ The dragon-soul almost breathed the statement out, and for the first time, Jaune was able to hear a tone of voice that he had never heard from the dragon.

Awe.

… _This is going to be tough, isn't it?_

 _ **More than you—or I as a matter of fact—can probably imagine.**_

 _Wonderful._

"And it isn't even noon yet." Jaune muttered.

"Did you say something?" Ruby had stepped close to Jaune, worried look on her face. Jaune was quick to reassure her, smiling.

"No, I'm fine. How's everyone else?"

"Well…" Ruby looked a little uncertain, turning behind her. Jaune followed her line of sight and almost burst out laughing at the sight of everyone knocked over like bowling pins. Even Professor Goodwitch had picked herself up from a kneeling position after the wind subsided. Jaune opened his mouth, giving a little 'ah', of understanding. Ruby had probably fallen as well, but with her semblance had enough speed to recover a lot faster.

Jaune wanted to keep admiring the scene, but a loud rumbling disrupted any thoughts of doing so, as well as making some of them fall onto the ground again. Turning to face the large pass, Jaune discovered Grimm rising from the ground, as well as the sides of the mountains. Flocks of Nevermore also rose from the mountaintops, cawing and hovering menacingly.

Carefully Jaune drew out Crocea Mors, putting himself at ready. There were sounds of movement as everybody behind him quickly recovered, finding a threat standing in front of them.

There were a ton of Grimm, but that was something the United forces were starting to get used to. Without waiting for the Grimm to make a move, several Hunters gave a battle cry and started to charge forward, ready to attack.

And was quickly stopped when an enormous fireball, as large as a Bullhead, smashed onto the ground a few yards away from Jaune's feet. Jaune raised an arm to shield himself from the sudden light, while his aura snuffed out embers that tried to get close enough to burn him. When the blonde knight lowered his arm, he was treated with the sight of an enormous dragon, with scales colored black. However, if Jaune looked closely, he could see that the scales weren't completely black, seemingly tinged with a cherry red color, as if someone had left the scales in a hot furnace.

The dragon was enormous. Bigger than the other two dragons that Jaune had faced, he blocked the sun with contemptuous ease, his wings flapping slowly to keep him aloft. Even several hundred meters away from the dragon Jaune could feel the wind made from the wings against his body, powerful enough to shift any clouds close to it away.

The dragon opened its jaws, making Jaune tense a little, but only deigned to speak, the throat pulsing as the dragon spoke, causing minor vibrations along the ground.

" **Turn away."** The dragon said. Vedrahgol almost spasmed in delight, roaring.

 _ **That is the language of the Dov! Quickly, you must speak back!**_

The urgency of the dragon-soul's words made it so that Jaune opened his mouth quickly, trying to think of a sentence that would get the point across. This was harder than it looks, as Jaune had really only spent a few hours learning the grammatical structure of the language, really only concerned in using the language for his Shouts.

"We must pass." Jaune said almost haltingly, the sounds feeling strange in the back of his throat, unused to talking in the language without pushing power into it. The dragon flapping his wings before the United forces didn't move, simply staring at Jaune until he opened his mouth once again.

" **Turn away.** " Again the phrase was repeated, without anther word more or less coming from the dragon. Jaune furrowed a brow in confusion, a dreadful feeling gathering in the bottom of his stomach. The blonde knight also repeated what he had just said, waiting for the dragon to say or do anything.

The dragon opened his mouth, but instead of the slight crack that he had done moments earlier when he was speaking, the mouth opened up wide, revealing slightly yellowed teeth and a black tongue.

" **Fus…** "

"Everybody get down!"


	24. A Goliath Task

**A/N: I actually forgot today was Monday. Whoops. Ha, well, I hope y'all enjoy XD**

* * *

The initial blast would've crushed Jaune, as the force of the shout had been aimed directly at him. Luckily, Jaune kneeled underneath his shield, which took on the Dragon's fury head on, dispelling it wildly into pure energy, causing a shimmering in the air similar to a heat wave around the shield.

The forces around Jaune weren't as fortunate, the speed of the wind so massive that it would have crushed anyone just a few steps away from Jaune into a paste onto the ground. It was very fortunate that the closest person had been Ruby, who had sped away the moment the Dragon opened his mouth. Everyone else had instead been picked up by an invisible hand and flung away from Jaune, tumbling around in complete disarray. Chaos reigned for a good minute as the Hunters tried to find a way to reorganize themselves again.

It didn't help that this was also the time that the other Grimm decided to attack, charging at isolated Hunters and trying to kill them off. Jaune made a snap decision, drawing a breath and letting loose a shout, accelerating himself forward. Bracing himself, he was able to stop without falling over, sword and shield at ready to face the enormous dragon.

The wind was even stronger here, Jaune having to keep his eyes narrowed into slits to see anything.

 _You have anything to help me with here?_

Vedrahgol didn't speak at first, stunned to see something he thought he would never see again after being banished from Nirn.

A real dragon.

Sure, it still resembled one of the Grimm, scales darker than anything the dragon-soul had ever seen on his world, barring Alduin. But the size of the dragon, and the strength of the voice, as well as its gaze…

This was one of the Dov.

Or at least the closest thing to the Dov that Vedrahgol had seen in a while.

 _Vedrahgol!_ The dragon snapped from his reverie, attention focused on the blurry form of the dragon. Though without a body, Vedrahgol could feel blood pumping through him, the giddy feeling of being in battle with a Dovah almost overwhelming him. Past the mental barriers, Jaune was sensing it as well, feeling his limbs almost shake in excitement.

Jaune started to breathe a little deeper, trying to calm the sudden jitters that had engulfed him. Which was sort of hard, seeing as how every part of his body wanted to fight right _now_.

Waiting too long for any sort of action, the dragon in front of Jaune judged that he would have had to make the first move, roaring loudly, shaking the mountains.

Raising his shield, Jaune blocked another shout, knees almost buckling. Jaune retaliated, letting loose a shout of his own, flames flying through the air, only to be extinguished by the endless wind storm being conjured up by the opposing dragon's wings.

"Why would I think that'd work?" Jaune muttered, before ducking beneath his shield again, pushed back just slightly by the blast of power.

 _Vedrahgol! Please tell me you've found some sort of weakness!_

Vedrahgol tossed his head, letting loose a haughty rumble. _**True Dovah have no weaknesses**_.

 _Vedrahgol!_ Jaune growled out in his head.

… _**But I suppose this one isn't a true enough Dovah for it to matter.**_ The dragon said reluctantly, turning his attention to the Dovah in front of Jaune.

Who suddenly wasn't in front of them anymore.

"Where..?" Jaune turned to see where the Grimm had gone, before tilting his head upwards. Oh. The dragon was on top of him.

"Crap…" Jaune said, hoisting his shield up and hoping that the force of the shout wouldn't smash him flat under the thing. The force hit hard, the air pressure so different that Jaune had a hard time breathing, feeling like his lungs were being crushed. The feeling lasted almost a whole minute before Jaune could even loosen his muscles, able to move and breathe freely.

It only took him another second to notice that the dragon had landed beside him, the whirlwind subsiding temporarily. It took him only another second to raise his shield between the two of them, which was _just_ enough time for the dragon to use one of his wings to backhand—er, backwing the knight.

Jaune flipped like a ragdoll, tumbling through the air and crashing into the ground, drawing out a pained groan. The only thing that prevented him from having a shattered, well, everything was his aura, which was already hovering at the halfway mark.

Picking himself up as quickly as possible, trying to ignore the pain that was lancing through his body, Jaune took this opportunity to deliver another Shout, this one aimed _not_ at the dragon.

Again Jaune zoomed forward, getting into wing-swinging range again before the dragon could react. Taking advantage of the momentary surprise, Jaune continued with the forward momentum, sprinting even closer.

A dragon's range was enormous. Anywhere in between the span of his wings and almost a hundred meters past the body was fair game for a Dragon. But with that range came a small disadvantage, something Jaune noticed when fighting with the other two dragons.

The closer you were to the dragon, the easier it is kill it.

That wasn't to say that it was _easy_ to kill the things, especially if they were intelligent enough to know their own weaknesses.

The one that faced Jaune definitely knew his weaknesses, spinning to orient his snake-like upper body towards the boy, jaws snapping. Jaune thought quickly, jumping upwards and using his shout once more, flying straight towards the hide of the dragon. Using Crocea Mors, Jaune swung inwards, creating a cut into the hide that the sword bit into, allowing Jaune to stay on the dragon, who roared in pain.

Bucking quickly, the dragon tried to throw the boy off of him, letting loose a roar that shook the ground that they were on. Jaune sunk Crocea Mors deeper into the wound, determined not to be thrown off, knowing the moment that happened, he would be as flat as Nora approved pancakes.

With a groan of frustration, the dragon stood upright, flaring his wings dramatically. Jaune only had time to curse loudly and tighten his grip on the sword before the dragon took off, rising almost vertically into the sky. Holding on to dear life, Jaune whimpered and closed his eyes, for once hoping that he wouldn't leave a flying object too soon.

Things certainly didn't seem to look up when the dragon also started to corkscrew through the air, adding another vector of force that Jaune had to go against.

 _I need more help_.

 _ **Burn the wings!**_

And so, Jaune opened his mouth, ready to let loose another shout, but letting loose a trail of vomit that actually looked a little impressive.

… _ **That is disgusting**_. The flying dragon seemed to agree as well, roaring in an offended tone.

 _I can't take this anymore._

Jaune's grip finally failed him, hands letting go, the boy falling back towards Remnant.

Vedrahgol sure wasn't ready to die, and desperately told Jaune to shout, pushing so much of his consciousness and knowledge of the new shout into the boy that pain flared through the knight's mind, almost causing him to blackout. But it was enough.

"Feim Zii Gron!"

A certain warmth embraced Jaune, and he felt as if he was floating, before suddenly being jerked to a stop. Opening his eyes, he looked at his body, which almost shimmered like he was invisible, if only for the blue that outlined his figure. The dragon residing inside of Jaune gave a sigh of relief.

Standing up, Jaune looked upwards to find the dragon furious, another shout already rumbling in the back of its throat.

Jaune thanked the gods that the shield had been strapped onto his arm, or he might have let go of it too, and… that would've been bad. But because Jaune didn't, he was blessed with the good fortune of _not_ dying as the shout hit the shield, once more dispersing, this time into a field of snow that expanded on his shield and threw itself across the whole field.

Lowering his magic shield, Jaune's eyes widened as he witnessed ice covering the ground in large spikes from where the dragon was hovering all the way until it had been blocked.

 _ **So it was an Fodovah after all**_. Vedrahgol muttered.

 _A what?_

 _ **Ice dragon. He is an ice dragon**_ **.**

 _Oh wonderful. I haven't been killed by one of those yet_.

Vedrahgol chuckled. _**Neither have I.**_

With that information in mind, Jaune opened his mouth and let loose another blast of fire, which the ice dragon negated by roaring, the action so powerful that it tore the flames into embers.

"Why can't you just let it hit you?" Jaune asked exasperatedly. The dragon opted not to answer, focusing on its next attack. Which was a straightforward blast of ice that Jaune once again blocked.

 _Are we at a stalemate or something?_ Vedrahgol shook his head.

 _ **Not exactly. If he is anything like a true dovah, then he will adapt, which is something you need to look out for**_.

 _What do I need to look—_

A crushing force hit against Jaune's shield, and once again he was sent flying.

The bastard charged at him! He used the brief bloom of a snowstorm to mask his charge and…

Jaune winced, getting into a sitting position. This wasn't turning out well for him.

"Wow. You suck."

Jaune turned gingerly to face Yang, who was looking at him with a raised eyebrow and crossed arms. He nodded.

"Yeah. I do." Yang frowned at the admission.

"You're bleeding. From the nose." Jaune raised a hand, touching his upper lip, discovering the sticky blood Yang was talking about.

"Yeah."

"… You gonna be alright?" Jaune grimaced and shrugged at the question.

"I'll manage."

Yang nodded, looking over at the dragon, who seemed to be eyeing the new arrival with caution, not sure what to make of her.

"We need to talk. After." Jaune didn't say anything, just nodding, even though Yang wasn't looking at him. She didn't really need to, knowing that he would agree. Cracking her knuckles, she nodded, stepping forwards.

"Let's clean house."


	25. The Dragon Within

**A/N: Nothing much to say. Hope y'all enjoy!**

* * *

"Wow, this is harder than it looks."

Jaune smashed his sword onto one of Yang's frozen-over bracers, the girl muttering in thanks. Jaune looked up at the ice-dragon hovering in the sky, teeth bared and still as dangerous as ever. If Jaune looked at the sides of the dragon, where he had pierced it previously, Jaune could see that the wounds had already scabbed over. The blonde boy let loose a loud sigh, hand gripped on tightening and loosening on his sword.

The two of them had been fighting for almost a good half hour, trying to find any weaknesses that they could exploit. Apparently, even though the dragon was an ice dragon, any attempts at burning him was met with quick thinking, snuffing out any flames produced by the two of them. On the other hand, although progress was slow, the dragon had managed to hit the two of them once or twice, their auras, luckily, protecting them from most of the damage.

From the way this was going though, the pair of blondes were beginning to reach the end of their chain.

Jaune continued to rack his brain for another idea, something that would catch the dragon off guard. To be honest, some of the crazier ideas that Jaune were having seemed to be a good idea at this point.

The dragon wasn't going to wait for them to find something to beat him of course, and went straight to action, again summoning a blizzard to blind them, allowing him to move without detection. Jaune opened his mouth, about to use a shout to clear the air before an idea struck him that was slightly less crazy than his other ones. Moving towards Yang, Jaune whispered to her, his eyes continuing to rove the area, making sure the dragon wasn't going to attack them unexpectedly.

"I have an idea." Jaune whispered to her, a little excited. Yang raised an eyebrow, but continued to scan the area as well, not wanting to get hit by a ton of dragon mass flying towards them.

"That's great. How well is _this_ one going to work out?" Jaune cast an irritable look at the girl.

"My plans weren't that terrible."

"Yes they were." Yang shot back without even hesitating. Jaune closed his eyes, for the first time feeling as if he was the one going crazy from anger and not berserker Yang.

"Okay. Fine. Whatever. Just. Listen, alright?" Yang rolled her eyes, but relented, listening to Jaune detail the plan out. When he finished, Yang leaned back, a noticeable frown on her face.

"This sounds ridiculous." She stated flatly, crossing her arms. Jaune held out his hands imploringly.

"Come on Yang! It's not all that crazy! I mean, we did this sort of thing during initiation, we can probably do it here!" Now it was Yang's turn to have a headache, hand pinching the bridge of her nose.

"Alright, fine. Let's just get this over with." Jaune grinned, nodding. The both of them at ready, Jaune took a breath and dispelled the icy fog with a shout, revealing the ice dragon to be closer than they expected.

"Duck!" Jaune yelled in surprise, the two of them diving out of the way as the dragon let loose another salvo of ice, separating the two.

Jaune blasted the dragon with his fiery shout, the flames sticking onto one of the beast's wings, which was put out when the dragon stood up and flapped his arms, the wind snuffing the fire out.

During those precious few seconds where the dragon was kept occupied, Jaune sprinted towards him, sword ready. Getting just close enough, Jaune created long shallow cuts that did little except annoy and pain the dragon, which was what the blonde knight wanted.

The dragon whirled towards Jaune, jaws snapping, something that the boy anticipated by raising his shield, letting the teeth bang onto it. Another roar cut off his next attack as Yang chose this moment to spring, climbing on the ice dragon's back and using her semblance to create a line of fire along the monster's back. The pain was starting to become something big for the dragon, who decided he had enough of this and spread his wings, launching himself into the air fast enough to throw the girl off and extinguish the flames, his eyes glowing with black rage.

"That doesn't look good." Jaune commented as Yang did a flip in the air to land on her feet, borrowing a page out of Blake's book.

"No it doesn't." Yang agreed, before grabbing onto Jaune's hand and running as the dragon roared louder than ever before, so powerfully that the sound resonated into their chests, and drowned out the constant sound of fighting that was occurring in the background. When the dragon finished his roar, he stayed up in the sky, hovering. He did nothing but continue to watch the two of them, as if waiting for something.

Suddenly, there were vibrations that traveled along the ground and up towards their knees, and a sound, swelling to become louder and louder, started to fill their ears.

"No way…" Yang breathed out, looking at the tumbling snow that was falling from the mountaintops, picking up speed and about to engulf the valley below.

"That is _so_ unfair." Jaune whined, before turning to Yang.

"We're doing it now Yang!" The girl's head whipped over, eyes wide and hair flying wildly.

"Wh- now?" Yang looked like she wanted to argue about the decision, but Jaune shook his head, tossing her Crocea Mors. Yang fumbled with it a little awkwardly, before simply holding it outwards with both hands.

Jaune hefted his shield up, pointing the face towards the hovering dragon. "There isn't time to argue, let go _now_!" Without another word Yang sprinted towards the shield, shelving any reservations that she would have in doing something as suicidal as this. Jumping, Yang hit the shield with her feet, bracing as Jaune summoned all of his strength to thrust upwards, letting her kick against it as well, propelling the girl towards the dragon at startling speeds.

The Grimm-beast simply looked at the approaching target, a little amused that the little humans would think this would work. With a flap of his wings, the dragon simply moved a little higher up, getting out of Yang's reach.

Jaune closed his eyes, a feeling of triumph rising into his chest. Having a dragon-soul residing in him for a good time now, he had gotten good at knowing the attitudes of dragons. Like their arrogance.

"Fus Ro Dah!" Jaune Shouted, the force of wind flying outwards and wrapping around Yang, shooting her forwards even faster. Fast enough to stab through the belly of the dragon, in fact.

With a loud yell, Yang dragged the sword into a jagged cut, able to orient herself in a way that allowed the brawler to end up on the dragon's back, where she lit herself on fire with her semblance and used Jaune's sword to make burning stab wounds onto the dragon. With one last yell, Yang jumped off before the dragon could retaliate, but not before blasting a few shells into the fragile membrane that was a dragon's wings, causing the beast to capsize and plummet towards the ground just as fast, if not faster, than the girl herself.

Used to falling hundreds of feet through the air at this point in time, Yang found her center of balance and righted herself, using her shotgun bracers to slow her descent, watching with a victorious smirk as the dragon fell past her and crashed into the ground.

During this time, Jaune had found a way to stop the avalanche, using a whole bunch of ice shouts and wind shouts and even some fire shouts to slow the rush down enough that it didn't run him and the rest of the combatants in the valley over.

The ice-dragon let out a sound that reminded Jaune of a moan, getting back on his legs in a wobbly fashion, the eyelids drooping and blinking sporadically.

Turning towards the knight, the dragon seemed to show more life in his eyes than Jaune had ever witnessed in the Grimm. There was confusion, dashed with a healthy dose of fear. Looking at the dragon's eyes, Jaune froze, the two of them stuck in each other's gazes.

The ice-dragon learned something from the exchange, and his eyes widened, head approaching.

" _ **Dovah…**_ "

Then Yang crashed her fist into the dragon, whipping his head to the side. The spell broken, the dragon lifted his head in rage, eyes filled with nothing but malice. Gritting his teeth, Jaune flung his shield towards the dragon, striking him across the head and sprinting towards the beast.

Hoisting himself up onto the Grimm's back, Jaune pulled out Crocea Mors and walked along the stunned dragon's spine, before slamming the blade through the neck, severing the spinal cord as cleanly as Jaune could manage.

The dragon turned his head around once more, eyes shining again with emotions besides rage. Pain, fear… and a little bit of relief, before the light was completely extinguished from his eyes.

Jaune turned away, his heart reaching out to the dragon, who had died under the chains of hypnotism. He didn't have much time to mourn though, as the essence of the dragon started to dissolve, finding its way towards the boy and infusing him with the power of the Dovah, slamming him with unbelievable energy.

It was intoxicating, but also suffocating, as the power was immense, and so much more different than the ones that he had absorbed previously, whether that was due simply because of the dragon's massive size or if it was a "truer" dragon than the ones that he had fought, he didn't know.

Jaune actually tumbled down onto the ground in a heap as the dragon disappeared from underneath his feet, but being too preoccupied by the disorienting power, he simply lay there, letting the feeling course through his body.

The feeling kept building, steadily, steadily, as the power made him feel warmer and warmer. The blood was pounding in his ears, and light kept flashing in his eyes, making him deaf and blind to the world, until Yang got her hands around him and started to shake frantically, trying to bring Jaune out of his seizure.

"Jaune! Jaune! Come on you better not die, I haven't started to yell at you for how stupid you are yet!" Yang resorted to slapping him on the cheeks a few times to see if that would wake him up, continuing to speak. "Oum's dusty underwear, I swear Jaune if you don't wake up right now I'm going to actually get mad!"

Jaune stopped shaking, but kept his eyes closed, his breathing slowed down to a point where Yang wasn't sure if he was still breathing or if she was just hearing the wind howling around her.

"Vomit boy?" Yang said the nickname softly, fingers slightly trembling.

A massive groan emitted from the boy, causing Yang to jump a little in surprise. Jaune opened his eyes, making Yang freeze as she saw not blue, but a swirling black and yellow that looked much more reptilian than human. Opening his mouth, Yang could see some steam floating out.

"Jaune, are you alright-"

Jaune kissed Yang.

Yang didn't know why, didn't know how, all she knew was that Jaune had pushed himself up shockingly fast and kissed her, lips hard against hers. It made her lips hot, and everything else hot as well, Jaune persistently keeping the pressure on her.

Finally Jaune leaned back, blinking as the unusual colors faded from his eyes, restoring them back to the blue that they usually were.

Yang decided to keep her mouth wide and gaping, looking at Jaune with an empty stare. Jaune decided that now would be the best time to flush red, not sure what excuse to make.

"You… you just kissed me." Yang, for all her experience with boys, didn't know what to say. After all, it wasn't often that people kissed other people for no reason, even if they were walking bombshells like Yang. Jaune answered with a solitary nod, not wanting to open his mouth again.

"W-why?"

Jaune looked to the left, not wanting to meet her eyes. Shifting uncomfortably, Jaune looked to the right. The dragon inside of him raged and coiled around in his stomach, demanding that they stopped talking and just kissed again, maybe moving onto something more.

A loud boom echoed in the valley, making them turn to the scene of battle, where the United forces seemed to be pushing back the Grimm, who lost their cohesion the moment the ice-dragon died.

"Later." Jaune offered, making Yang purse her lips and nod.

"Later." She agreed, and the two of them marched out to help out their team.


	26. Uncontrollable

**A/N: Fun fun fun. Fun. FUN. XD**

 **Enjoy.**

* * *

Jaune was panicking on the inside. Compared to killing an enormous dragon a few minutes earlier, killing Beowulves and the like was something simple enough that Jaune didn't have to invest too much brainpower into it. Unfortunately, that also meant he had enough time to freak out about the fact that he had just kissed Yang Xiao-Long.

 _Why did I even do that?_ Jaune asked himself frantically, as he sidestepped the claws of an Ursa and cleaved it in half. _Do I_ want _to die?_

Vedrahgol seemed to say nothing to this apparent meltdown, only settling back and observing with an amused interest, as if watching a drama unfold.

 _Come on Vedrahgol, you've gotta have_ something _that'll help me out of this_. Jaune asked his dragon-soul desperately, already at the end of his rope. The dragon laughed, knowing that he truly was desperate if the boy was asking him for advice on human girls.

 _ **I don't see what you've done wrong.**_ Vedrahgol said frankly, shrugging his enormous shoulders. _**In fact, what I would suggest you do is pull her close and lock lips with her again. And then, to get things moving along, you could pull down those ridiculous pants and show her the length of your—**_

 _Not helping! Not helping at all!_

The dragon simply roared in laughter, making the cavern around him rumble and shake.

 _ **Ah, you are all such complicated, silly little things, you humans.**_

Jaune groaned internally, already having known that asking Vedrahgol wouldn't net for anything. The feeling of panic rose up into his chest again, making him feel as if he was on the worst Bullhead ride of his life.

 _Maybe I can play it off as a joke_. Jaune thought to himself desperately, ducking under a flying Nevermore and swiping his blade in a wide arc, knocking a charging Boarbatusk out of his way.

 _ **I may not know much about humans, but I don't think that's the right option to take, Maldovah.**_ Jaune winced, conceding to the point, if only because the fact that if the dragon-soul thought it was a dumb idea, it was probably an absolutely idiotic idea.

Jaune sighed, bringing up his shield to block a heavy blow, grunting as he pirouetted around to slice a Grimm's head clean off its shoulders. Briefly forgetting about the fact that he was in the middle of a battlefield, he oriented his grip on Crocea Mors, standing in an idle stance while consulting his inner dragon.

 _How am I even going to explain this to her in the first place? I don't even know why I did that, let alone explain it to her._

Vedrahgol once again shrugged, tossing his head a little. _**It's probably because of the wildness of the Dov energy that you absorbed. After all, you had to find some way to expel the excess energy.**_

Jaune frowned. _What do you mean_ excess _energy? Wait a second, what happens when I absorb the dragon soul in the first place_? Vedrahgol creased his eye ridges in confusion.

 _ **Do you not know? I could have sworn that I had already explained this to you.**_ Jaune shook his head, sure that if they had spoken about this, he would have remembered. Vedrahgol went straight into his lecture mode, intent on delivering information that could save Jaune's life in the future.

 _ **Truth be told, there isn't much known about absorbing a dragon's soul. The only people that could do something of the sort and not die due to the sheer overwhelming power are the ones that already have dragon blood in them, dovahkiin, if you get what I am saying.**_ Vedrahgol closed his eyes, casting his memories back to a time where he only had to worry about one Dragonborn, wondering around the lands of Skyrim as a veritable one-man army. Alas, that was hundreds of years ago.

 _ **A dovahkiin is a natural slayer of dragons, as they have the ability to kill a dragon permanently, stealing the dovah's soul and absorbing it into their own, augmenting their power in ways unimaginable.**_

 _Wait a second, kill a dragon_ permanently _?_ Vedrahgol nodded at the question.

 _ **Yes. Under the right circumstances, with the right shouts and power, a dragon can be resurrected as long as a dovahkiin has not absorbed our souls, as our souls are immortal and forever lasting.**_

Jaune blinked, a little stunned at the revelation. No wonder he had been feeling as if he was getting stronger. By this point, he had killed three dragons, with a little (a lot of) help, and every time he had done so, he could feel a noticeable difference in his strength, something he had attributed to the fact that he had just gained more experience from killing a dragon before. This time it was… different.

Jaune could definitely feel that he had gotten stronger. By how much though, was the big question on his mind.

Jaune felt a hand clap onto his shoulder. Turning, he faced Pyrrha, who had a concerned look on her face.

"Are you alright Jaune? You've been standing in the middle of the field for quite some time now."

"Wha-?" Jaune turned around, discovering that the Hunters had made short work of the rest of the Grimm, leaving him to stand out in the open like an idiot. "Oh." Sheathing Crocea Mors, Jaune stepped away, looking away in embarrassment. An insistent Pyrrha grabbed him by the arm, trying to lead him to the team.

The blonde boy felt a rise of anger, wrenching his arm away from Pyrrha, snarling at her. "I can walk by myself." The anger was just as quick to leave as it was to begin, leaving Jaune mortified as he saw the hurt expression on Pyrrha's face.

"Sorry about that." Pyrrha said quietly, before scurrying away. Jaune reached out with one hand, wanting to say something before his words died in his throat, his eyes riveted to his friends, who had seen the whole thing. A brief flush of dread that he did something so unreasonable filled him, but was quickly washed away by even more rage and indignation, wondering why they were even looking over in this direction.

Jaune spun on his heels and stalked off in the opposite direction from his teams, muttering angrily to himself.

Finding a spot that was relatively unoccupied by living bodies, Jaune settled down, pulling out Crocea Mors and inspecting it, making sure there weren't any crazy dents and nicks on the blade, as well as the shield. He didn't even get five minutes to himself when he heard the crunch of snow near him, signaling that someone had approached him. Jaune didn't say anything, focused on the sword and shield.

Both of which were wrenched away from his hands, and tossed behind the figure, who crossed her arms and glared at him. Jaune leaned his body to the side a little, frowning at the sight of his sword laying in the snow like that.

"…I was working on that." Jaune said calmly, blood pumping into his head. His fists tightened a little, but some deep breaths allowed him to stay sitting. Yang kept her arms crossed.

"Uh huh. You wanna explain to me what that was all about?"

"What was what all about?" Jaune said innocently, staring straight into her eyes, daring her to call him out. Yang wasn't the most subtle person though, and bulled on straight ahead, happy to do so.

"You know exactly what. Why did you yell at Pyrrha? You never yell at Pyrrha." Jaune scowled at the words, shrugging dismissively.

"First time for everything." Jaune wasn't sure why, but he really wanted to make Yang mad, so he shrugged dismissively and even rolled his eyes. Yang drew in a breath, eyes flashing red for a second before turning back to their usual lilac.

"What has gotten into you?" Yang demanded to know, shifting her posture. "First you- you kiss me, then you yell at Pyrrha? Don't tell me this is how you deal with surviving through certain death." Jaune was a little impressed at the fact that Yang had barely flinched when she brought up the fact that they had kissed, noting in the back of his mind that he normally wouldn't have ever done that sort of thing with a straight face.

"Would it make any difference if I told you it did?" Jaune asked lowly, tilting his head to the side a little. Yang growled, eyes flashing red again, this time taking another second before it resided.

"No." Yang conceded. "It would still make you an asshole." Jaune laughed mockingly, raising his hands up.

"Oh my, sorry that I'm such an asshole then." Jaune said, before frowning. "Now, if that's the only thing you need to say, you can get out of my face." With that, Jaune stood up, brushing the seat of his pants, not even bothering to look at Yang anymore.

The brawler on the other hand, was starting to growl menacingly, eyes stuck in the blood red category as her fists clenched tight. Before either of them could say anything else, Yang delievered a mean hook that landed on Jaune's cheek, causing him to stagger a little to the right. Everything froze that at moment as Yang stared hard at Jaune, who had an expression of wide-eyed shock on his face.

Spitting out a little blood, Jaune stood up, the blood in his head rushing, rushing, rushing. "Yeah." Jaune said, nodding to himself, "I can work with this."

And then Jaune decked Yang right across the face.

The mirror of what had happened just a second ago occurred, Yang was caught off guard. Straightening up, she roared, diving in to deliver another blow to Jaune, who was standing at ready.

The both of them exchanged blows, all of them hard, heavy, and lacking any technique. Gone was the tactical mind that Jaune prided himself in, gone was the speed and finesse that came with Yang's legendary blows.

It was a fist fight, down and dirty, using the rules of the street to see who would come out on top.

Back and forth it went, as the two of them exchanged blows, so enraged that they didn't care what they were hitting, barely registering the pain that came when receiving a hit. They simply pummeled at each other with the intention of making the other drop.

Team RWBY and JNPR stood by in shock, staring at the messy brawl that was taking place in front of them. It was only at the urging of Ruby, who was the first to snap out of it, that they started to move, intent on intervening.

By that point however, the fight was almost finished, each blow weakening, both their faces bruised and bloody as their protective aura had left them a while ago. With one last blow from the each of them, they collapsed, heads next to each other.

Neither one of them said a word, panting heavily as they tried to catch their breath. Their teams stopped in their tracks, uncertain of what to do at that point, simply deciding to stand on the sidelines, ready to stop them if they decided to resume their punching bag practices on each other's faces. Everything was silent for a while, letting the two on the ground think.

"Sorry I was acting so stupid." Jaune was the first to speak, his voice a little hoarse. "The- the dragons that I absorb. They change me a little every time." Yang didn't comment on that, but certainly kept that in mind.

"You'll apologize to Pyrrha?" Jaune rolled his eyes at the question, noticing that even blinking was a little painful.

"I'm probably going to go on my knees and beg for forgiveness." Jaune was dryly, knowing that he did something inexcusable to the one person who supported him through hell and high water. Yang snorted at the comment, head rolling a little.

"… Was our kiss the same way?" Yang asked, not specifying what she meant by that. Jaune didn't have to ask though, knowing what she meant. He hesistated for a second, unsure of how to explain.

"Sort of. It was a spur of the moment thing but… I liked it." Jaune finally confessed, happy that the bruising on his cheeks would disguise any blushing that would happen. Yang didn't say anything for a while, keeping silent as she thought about things that Jaune could only guess at.

"Yeah." She finally spoke up. "I liked it too. You're not a bad kisser, Vomit-boy."

Jaune could only start laughing at that, no matter how much his bruised body complained.


	27. Talking it Out

**A/N: Wow, the first episode of season 4... I don't wanna spoil anything for the ones who haven't watched it yet, so I won't talk about the plot. But the animation though. Quite a step up from last season. Can't wait to see what next week's episode entails. But enough about that, have this chapter and... well, I hope y'all enjoy :)**

 **Guest: Thanks! I hope this chapter'll live up to your expectations!**

* * *

"Ouch, that hurts!"

Jaune winced as Pyrrha continued to dab at the cuts on his face, cleaning up the wounds that had occurred during the fight with Yang. Said girl was on a chair next to him, wincing while Blake applied the medicine to her face, but not yelling every time her face came into contact with the medical solution.

"You're such a baby." Yang teased, smiling as she did so. Jaune rolled his eyes, turning his body slightly to face her, making Pyrrha frown and press down particularly hard on a bruise on his cheek.

"Ouch! Gah, I wouldn't be complaining if _someone_ didn't decide to put their fists on my face." Yang scoffed at that, crossing her arms.

"Well, maybe you shouldn't have been getting all clumsy like that, repeatedly slamming your face onto my fists."

"You should've at least had the decency to take your gauntlets off when I fell on them though."

"Oh, I'm so sorry about that," Yang said, waving her arms around mockingly. "Next time I'll be considerate and _ask_ you if you're ready to lose a few teeth, and _then_ I'll take my time beforehand to get rid of my weapons. Sorry!"

Jaune pouted a little and crossed his arms as well. The only thing preventing him from tossing his head like a brat was Pyrrha and her cotton swab, which was probably coated with molten lava.

"Well, that's all I ask for." Jaune said in a faux-haughty tone of voice. The two of them held their positions like that for a second before grinning at the other one, a few chuckles slipping through their facades.

"Well, now that you two have gotten all of _that_ out of your systems," Blake said quietly, standing up from her attentions to Yang. She held out a roll of bandages and placed it in Yang's hands. "I'm going to go clean up. You do know how to use those, right?" Yang looked a little offended at the question, and demonstrated a little childishly that _yes_ , she did know how to put on a bandage.

Pyrrha also finished up on Jaune, taking out some bandages as well. Her fingers twitched a little as she fought the urge to bandage his face for him, instead placing it gingerly into his hands and standing up, leaving the tent in a hurry. Jaune's eyes followed her, a pained frown on his face. Blake and Yang saw the whole thing, and while Blake wasn't one to intrude, Yang certainly was.

"You should probably get to apologizing to her." Yang quipped helpfully, nodding at the exit. Jaune turned to look at her, a conflicted expression visible on his face. He nodded with her, murmuring something before standing up and following his partner.

Yang smiled contently, leaning over to rest her head on Blake's arm. "They grow up so fast." Blake only rolled her eyes at the fake-tears Yang had in her eyes. With her other hand, Blake pat Yang's head, something that she only allowed because she was her partner, and her hands had been dipped in rubbing alcohol a few moments ago, so there was no worry about dirtying Yang's hair.

"There, there." Blake intoned, smiling wanly at the display.

* * *

"Pyrrha. Pyrrha wait." Jaune called out, causing the Amazon to stop in her hurried retreat away from Jaune, arms clasped. She turned around, guarded expression on her face. Jaune stopped a few feet away from her, hand rubbing the back of his neck as he tried to think of something to say. An apology would probably be a good way to start, he supposed.

"I'm sorry. For yelling at you." Pyrrha nodded stiffly, not answering back. Jaune continued. "I… when I- we, kill a dragon, when I absorb the… the soul of it. Apparently I become more… animalistic." Jaune shrugged, blocking the assault that Vedrahgol tried to place on his mind, taking offense at calling the Dov 'animals'. Pyrrha's cold expression defrosted a little, but there was still a visible frown marring her face.

"I know this doesn't really excuse me from acting like—like an asshole, I know." Jaune said hurriedly, holding out his hands, recalling the word that Yang had used when they had talked. "I know you're angry at me, and I know I deserve it. I just. I just wanted you to know that I'm _really_ sorry, and I won't do that to you again. I promise." Jaune nodded with that, knowing that he would do anything in his power not to break his word. It was the Arc name on the line, after all.

When he fell silent, Pyrrha's eyes rose up, looking at the vulnerable boy. Jaune fidgeted uncomfortably, not sure if there was anything else that he needed to say, and so opted to stay quiet, sure that Pyrrha would talk to him sooner or later. Which she did, drawing a breath to do so.

"I'm not mad at you, Jaune." Pyrrha said softly, fingers wrapping around themselves in a nervous tic. "I'm a little… hurt. But not mad at you." Pyrrha shook her head a little. "I know that I've been babying you for a while now. I can't help it." Pyrrha gave a smile that seemed more grimace than anything else. "It's hard to remind myself that you aren't the same guy you were when we first joined Beacon. Sometimes I can't help but wonder if you've been replaced." Pyrrha confessed, her head and gaze looking away from him, aimed to his left. "Because when I look at you fighting a… a dragon, with that determined and confident look, it's hard to think of you as my partner. The one who has his shoes labeled." Pyrrha said with a small smile, something that Jaune returned back, knowing that she wasn't trying to insult him.

Pyrrha sighed, a hand rubbing her arm.

"And when you fought those Grimm, the expression you had on your face was so… so _empty_. Like you weren't even there. I couldn't help but try to find a way to bring you back, and I thought that pulling you to us would bring you back." Pyrrha looked towards the ground. "I didn't realize that it just set you off."

Jaune stepped forward, closing the distance between them as he wrapped her in a hug, almost crushing her if it wasn't for the armor that the two of them were wearing. Pyrrha was quick to return the hug, burying her head into Jaune's shoulder.

"I'm sorry. I haven't really talked to anyone all that recently, have I?" Jaune asked, his mind whirling back to the past few weeks, which had been constantly occupied by Vedrahgol and his training. "I don't mean to do it."

Pyrrha sniffled a little, before nodding into Jaune's neck and pulling back, giving him a watery smile. Jaune gave a grin, giving her a thumbs up.

"I'll be better. Promise." Pyrrha gave a little laugh at that, nodding.

Feeling as though he had resolved at least one problem today, Jaune nodded at Pyrrha. "I'm going to go back in, alright? I've got something I need to talk to with Yang." Pyrrha nodded, giving a strained smile that Jaune didn't take note of, only having it turn into a frown after he turned toward the tent, heading back in.

* * *

"Ow, ow, Ouch! Blake, sheesh, please, stop tearing my bandages off!"

"I wouldn't have to if you had put them on correctly." Blake chided her, tearing off another bandage, making Yang howl.

"I knew it was all just a tough girl act."

Yang whirled around to look at the smirking Jaune, who had just lifted a flap to enter into the tent. She didn't account for the fact that Blake had a hand on one of her bandages still, and the quick movement allowed the bandage to be completely torn off in one clean go. Yang didn't even try to hide how painful that was.

Jaune kept his lips sealed, trying not to laugh at the comical display.

"I'll take over." Jaune said to Blake, who nodded at him gratefully before retreating, making sure not to linger when Yang's head rose, eyes glowing red.

"Stop being such a baby." Jaune repeated, grinning at the girl who wanted to rip his lips off of his face.

"I'll stop being such a baby when people stop tearing stuff off of my face." Yang said grumpily, her eyes slowly fading back to the purple color they usually were. Jaune shrugged, sitting down next to her.

"Stop putting stuff on your face then."

Yang rolled her eyes, scoffing. "Gee, thanks for the suggestion." Jaune grinned, nudging her with an elbow.

"Hey, let's face it, I'm a genius when it comes to this kind of stuff." A weak pun, but a pun nonetheless, causing Yang to have to fight a smile that threatened to rise onto her face.

"Stop it. I'm supposed to be mad at you." Jaune just laughed at her, bumping shoulders with the girl as the two of them fell silent and contemplative.

"I'm sorry, you know." Jaune said suddenly, turning to Yang. "For taking control of your body like that. I'm sure you didn't like that feeling at all." Yang nodded, looking over at him.

"Heck yeah I didn't like that feeling." Yang shuddered, remembering what Jaune had done to her. "You don't know what it's like, being someone who's supposed to be in control of her body, to just _lose_ all control of it like that. You made me panic." Yang admitted, blushing at the fact that she was telling him of a moment of weakness. "I don't like looking helpless." She said forcefully, glaring at Jaune.

The blonde knight raised his hands, holding them out in surrender. "I'm sorry. It was the only thing I could think of that would help. I wasn't really thinking things through." Yang snorted, shaking her head, letting her hair fly around loosely.

"No kidding. But…" Yang sighed, shoulders slumping. "I wasn't all that great at thinking it through either." Jaune nodded, giving a playful grin.

"Yeah. I mean, what were we going to do if you had killed Cardin? We would've lost our best hand to hand combat specialist _and_ someone to use as a meat shield." Yang burst out laughing, rocking the bed at how boisterous she was doing so.

"I thought that was your job, Mr. Shield." Jaune looked up to the ceiling of the tent, pretending to be in deep thought before shrugging.

"I guess having someone else pick up the slack isn't all that bad either."

An eyebrow raised on Yang's forehead. "Yeah, _someone_ needs to cover for you, Mr. Lazypants."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Jaune waved a hand, the smile still visible on his face as he did so. Yang fell silent, her brow furrowed a little before she decided to speak.

"We're… friends, aren't we?" She asked, sounding a lot more like Ruby then Yang at the moment. It was an obvious question, but Jaune could read the mood (for the first time ever) and nodded solemnly, deciding not to tease her about it. Yang nodded as well.

"It's just. We've been through a lot in such a short time." Yang said, her hands gesturing while she talked. "For the first year in Beacon, we didn't really talk all that much. I thought of you as Ruby's friend, not mine." Jaune nodded, understanding.

"Yeah, same here. I always thought of you as Ruby's big sis." Yang hummed in agreement, crossing her legs.

"It's… different now, isn't it? Fighting the dragons, fighting each other… We're close, don't you think?"

Jaune didn't say anything, just nodding once. Yang nodded again, a habit that she seemed to be picking up from the boy sitting next to her.

"I think that… we're a little alike." Yang continued, "And you know, we've got some things that we like about each other. And we get along pretty well so…" Yang hesitated, eyes showing that she was uncertain of where this was going. Jaune decided to prod her a little.

"What do you want to say Yang?" Jaune asked softly, his body facing hers.

"Do you trust me?"

"With my life." Came the serious, no-nonsense answer. With another moment to think, Yang let out a breath that she had been holding.

"Close your eyes."

Without another word needed, Jaune closed his eyes, patiently waiting for Yang to do… whatever she needed.

But deep down, Jaune wasn't really surprised when he felt her lips on his, tilting his head slightly to keep them in contact with each other. The kiss lasted for a few seconds, before the two of them parted, eyes connected. There was something unspoken that was passed between the two of them, and they met in the middle again, lips touching. Yang's arms slowly circled around Jaune's neck as she pulled him in, and Jaune's hands found her back, doing the same.

It was a good moment.

So good that Jaune was even able to block the dragon-soul inside of his mind who had rolled his eyes, smiling.

 _ **It was about damn time.**_


	28. Shaky Ground

**A/N: Yay, 'nother Monday! I just love Mondays... :) I hope y'all enjoy**

* * *

Cinder never knew boundaries. If she wanted something, she would cross any lines to get it.

There was something different about the man that stood in front of her though. Something about him made her hair stand on end, made her move cautiously around him. With the mask that he wore constantly, Cinder wasn't even given the chance to discern his expressions. If it wasn't for the rhythmic tapping of one of his hands, she wouldn't even be sure that she was facing a person or a statue. Cinder had spent all her life trying to hoard power over others, going the distance to try and seek out any means necessary to gain said power. Whether through attempting to steal the powers of the Fall Maiden to seeking forbidden artifacts in the Wildlands, she did it all.

And whatever power this man had, she wanted it. Whatever the cost.

And so, swallowing her pride, the woman knelt, hand placed over her heart.

"You called for me?" She asked in a quiet voice. The man who sat so still finally moved into action, nodding slowly, standing up out of his seat, a throne made out of melted weapons of the people who dared try and challenge him.

"Yes."

Cinder kept her pose, waiting for him to speak. Kneeling on the ground, frozen in place, Cinder felt the man getting closer and closer, hand finally gripping her chin, forcing her gaze upwards. The woman was still kneeling though, and the amount of power the man in front of him had over her made her struggle briefly, rage apparent in her eyes at being handled like this. A low gasping emanated from underneath his mask, which Cinder figured out to be a chuckle.

"You are quite spirited. And strong. Stronger than many here." Cinder didn't bother answering him, knowing that he wasn't asking her but rather making a statement. The fingers curled around her chin, stroking her. She had to drown a shudder that traveled along her spine, but couldn't put away the disgust in her eyes fast enough before Imaar noticed. The man straightened up, finally releasing her from his grip, but still Cinder stayed frozen.

"You are a woman that quests for power. Someone who would go to the edges of your world to become stronger. And I have a question for you." The masked man stared directly at Cinder, the shadowed eyeholes preventing Cinder from looking directly at him. Cinder nodded.

Imaar gestured with his right hand, wisps of magic flying from his fingertips and forming an image or an embroidered scroll, beautiful and golden. Cinder, a master of information, schooled her expression into a mask that revealed nothing to Imaar. The man was impressed.

"Have you ever in your journeys encountered something that looks like this?"

Cinder drew in a breath, before summoning some will, as well as some defiance. "Well. It depends." Imaar tilted his head in curiosity. Cinder finally stood up, back straight and only having to tilt her head up slightly to face the mask. "It depends on what you're planning to do for me." She purred out, thinking that she had the upper hand. Imaar didn't move from his position, nothing moving, even the winds outside the tent quieting down. Cinder felt a feeling rise to the pit of her stomach, a feeling of dread that was quickly made apparent when once more, Cinder was frozen in place, this time not by choice. Ice wrapped up around her legs, locking her in place. Stunned by the sudden attack, it took her a second before she summoned her powers, melting the ice and ready to face down Imaar.

The man calmly pointed a finger at her, the tip glowing bright red.

Cinder's flames extinguished themselves as she knelt down, muscles clenching everywhere, her mind screaming at her, begging her to run somewhere and hide. She fell to her knees, and when she opened her mouth, she did something that she hadn't done since she was beaten almost a year ago.

She screamed.

The scream was raw, primal, something that if any human was around would make their hairs stand to attention, knowing that it was filled with pure terror. She screamed so loud that her throat nearly collapsed under the strain, and yet still, she continued to scream. Then Imaar lowered his finger, the light disappearing.

And as suddenly as it had came, the feeling left her, the suddenness creating a hollow sensation in her chest. With the sudden changes in emotion, Cinder leaned over and threw up, retching loudly as she did so. The masked man stood in place, not having moved while this was happening, but there was an air of amusement around him.

If Cinder wasn't completely wiped out by her earlier episode, she would have summoned some energy to hate the man. Cinder's vision blurred, and was filled with black boots as Imaar stepped in front of her, before kneeling down.

"I may consider you useful, but do not ever think that you are in a position of power." Fingertips touched her forehead, glowing a brief red, making Cinder's body convulse in fear for a brief second before the spell subsided. "I can just as easily tear any information I need out of your head. But as a sign of respect, I have not. And as a sign of that respect, I will not kill and enthrall you for that sign of defiance. This time." Hands clutched the woman's hair and pulled her head up, so that Cinder's eyes could meet his.

"Now I ask you again," Imaar laid his staff down, the hand sparkling with a dangerous glow. "Do you know of the scroll that I had shown you?"

Forced to speak, her head unable to move with his firm grip, Cinder croaked out a quiet yes. Imaar nodded, letting go of her and letting her flop back onto the floor, standing up.

"Very good. I will let you recover, and we will continue with our questioning." Without another word, the Dragon Priest exited the tent, leaving the prone Cinder there, finally gathering enough energy to seethe, mind working furiously to cast her revenge.

* * *

"This is getting a little weird."

Jaune turned to see Ruby with a slightly disgusted look on her face, watching as Yang draped an arm around Jaune. Crooking an eyebrow, Yang smiled at her little sister. "What do you mean, sis?" Ruby shook her head, eyes narrowing.

"You know exactly what I mean. You. Jaune. This!" Ruby gestured at the position they were in with horror.

After the first kiss in the medic tent, Yang and Jaune had decided that it wouldn't hurt to have one or two more kisses. Or maybe several dozen more, as Ruby stepped in on them half an hour later with some rations, before screaming and throwing them up in the air, mortified to be stepping in on her best male friend and big sister making out.

Yang rolled her eyes, casually lifting her legs and placing them over Jaune's lap and squirming a little, causing her to end up comfortably on top of Jaune. The blonde boy squeaked a little, face turning a little red as he concentrated very hard on making sure he didn't get very hard.

"Oh come on Rubes. Are you sure you don't want a front row seat to all of _this_?" Yang gestures at the two of them, smirking. "It might be something good to learn from for the future after all. When you're older." Yang added with an afterthought. Ruby covered her face, not wanting to see anymore of this.

"First off, I am only two years younger than you, and I don't need to wait until I'm older. Secondly, I am not going to be watching my sister… canoodling with someone even if I needed a reference. Which I don't!" Yang chuckled mischievously, before having a brilliant idea.

"Are you sure you don't need a _little_ bit of guidance? I mean, I'm pretty sure—oh, stop it Jaune, not while Ruby's here!" The brunette wailed a little, something about broken trust before the blonde knight raised both his hands, face completely red.

"I have no idea what she's talking about." He denied vehemently, which was true, but something that Ruby wouldn't know seeing as how she was covering her eyes.

"Don't lie to me Jaune! I thought I had someone that could keep Yang in line!" Ruby almost looked on the verge of tears. "I knew it though. I knew you would side with her in the end." Finally her hands lowered to expose a glare that Jaune didn't know Ruby could do. "Guys always side with her. It's probably because of…" Ruby blushed a little, but continued to glare at Jaune. "I didn't realize that you would be so easily swayed by… by her _long hair_." And with that, Ruby disappeared in a blur, the tent flaps waving in the wind. Jaune groaned, collapsing onto the bed.

"I can't believe you would bully your own sister like that." Jaune said blandly, an arm across his face. Yang laughed, getting off his lap and leaning next to him on the bed.

"Oh, what's the harm with a little bit of fun?"

"Well, she could tell Professor Goodwitch." Jaune pointed out, rather sanely. Yang opened her mouth to retort, before closing it again with a frown.

"She wouldn't do that." Yang said unconvincingly, eyebrows drawn together. "Probably."

"Oh. Wonderful. Glad to know that you have such confidence in your sister."

"It's your fault, you ass." Yang countered, before sighing. "You weren't worrying when you had your tongue down my—"

"There was no tongue down anywhere, and you know it." Jaune rose up, glaring at Yang with a healthy blush on his face. The two of them stayed like that for a while, faces close before Yang broke out a softer smile, eyes flickering.

"Well, maybe we should change that." Yang whispered, which made Jaune gulp nervously. The two of them drew closer together before the tent flaps flew open again, causing Yang and Jaune to separate quickly, each on their side of the bed.

Pyrrha's head popped through, eyes looking around to spot Yang and Jaune. Locating them, she smiled, stepping inside the tent.

"Pyrrha." Jaune said, calming his rapidly beating heart. "What're you doing back here?"

Pyrrha shook her head, eyes worried. "I saw Ruby running away from the tent, screaming something about 'betrayal' and 'drinking more milk', and wanted to make sure everything was alright in here." Jaune waved a hand, shaking his head.

"Yeah, everything's alright here. Ruby just caught the two of us in here at a… bad time." Jaune didn't see Yang trying to subtly stop him from speaking. Pyrrha's eyebrows furrowed, before her eyes widened in shock… along with a bit of betrayal.

"Oh I.. I see." She said in a small voice, eyes cast down towards the ground. "I'll, I'm glad everything's alright." A small pause. "I'll just take my leave now." Without another word, she left, leaving Jaune with a frown on his face.

"Did I do something wrong?"

Yang covered her face with a hand, shaking her head, not knowing that Vedrahgol was doing the same thing. They even muttered the same phrase as well.

"Jaune, you idiot."

"I did do something wrong." Jaune decided, hearing them both say that. He scratched his head, confused.

"Do you think she was mad at us because we weren't supposed to be kissing in the medical tent?" Yang shook her head.

"You're half right." Yang said flatly, before standing up off of the bed, deciding that she had scarred enough people for the day. "Just. You should probably talk to her. Later." Yang said, looking at Jaune, who nodded.

"Yeah. Don't want any bad air between us." Jaune's eyes were glued onto the exit, a frown on his face as he tried to figure out what was wrong. Yang clenched a hand, squashing the feeling of jealously that she felt because Jaune was feeling concern about his partner.

"We should get going. The faster we can put Imaar into the ground, the better." Yang said, casting a weak smile before she left the tent, leaving Jaune sitting by himself, head wrapped in confusion.


	29. Upwards Retreat

**A/N: You know, this goin' be interesting. Enjoy!**

* * *

Jaune tried to talk to Pyrrha. He honestly did, but every time he got close, she seemed to find a reason to leave the conversation early or simply disappear, leaving Jaune standing by himself, confused.

After the fourth or fifth time this happened, Jaune frowned, getting a angry.

"Why is Pyrrha running from me?" Jaune asked himself quietly, scratching his head in confusion. The dragon-soul inside of him decided not to speak, knowing that any advice Vedrahgol was going to give would probably be ignored. With a weary sigh, Jaune decided to make a mental note to trap Pyrrha somewhere so that he could talk with her, and headed back to his campground, before he was pulled away by a harsh jerk, causing him to stumble and fall across a pair of boots.

"Wow Jaune. Aren't Hunters supposed to be poised and always ready to fight or something?"

Jaune looked up warily at a grinning Mika, who nudged one of her boots into his stomach, causing him to groan and roll away, unsteadily getting back up onto his feet.

Glaring at his sister, his expression changed when he saw that she was wearing a cast on her arm, and concern overrode his need to defend his pride.

"What happened?" Jaune asked, gesturing lightly to the arm. Mika waved her free hand, scoffing in dismissal.

"I was in the front lines and wasn't paying attention to my aura management. Goes to show that even graduated Huntresses can make mistakes, huh?" Mika said with a grin, trying to reassure Jaune. Still he was unconvinced, taking a step closer to make sure there were no other injuries on her.

"Jaune, I'm fine." She said, laughing, pushing him away from her. "How about you just go and have some smoochy smoochy with your girlfriend and let a big sister have her pride?" Jaune's brow furrowed, eyes inquisitive.

"How'd you know that I was dating Yang? I haven't even told anyone yet."

Mika drew herself back, face filled with surprise. "Wait a second," She said holding out a hand. "You actually _are_ dating someone? And it's one of those girls that I met earlier?"

Jaune, realizing no way out of this, nodded with resignation, having been trapped by his own words. "Yeah. The uh, blonde one." Mika took a second to recall an image of Yang, before whistling lowly.

"Wow. Nice one bro. I knew you had a thing for massive—"

"Alright Mika," Jaune stopped her midsentence, knowing that whatever she was about to say wasn't going to end well. "Can you tell me why you pulled to aside?" The older sister pouted, her fun temporarily killed by her little brother. Huffing out a breath, she conceded.

"Fine." Leaning over, she started whispering to him.

"Dad told me to tell you that there's something you need to be looking out for. Said he couldn't get in contact with your scroll." Jaune looked confused, before shuffling around his pockets to search for his scroll. Not able to find it, Jaune scratched the back of his neck, mentally trying to retrace his steps.

"I… might've dropped it when I was fighting the Grimm." Jaune confessed, shrugging sheepishly. Mika nodded, smirking a little.

"I figured as much. He wanted to tell you that he was proud of you, by the way." Jaune didn't fight the smile that rose to his face. Mika continued to talk.

"He said he had another dream. Told me that you would know that that means." Jaune nodded, letting his sister continue. "He said something about watching out for a scroll. Not the electronic ones that we use, but something from along ago, you know, the rolls of paper that have writing on it?" Jaune nodded. "Well, he wanted you to know that if you find something like that, bury it somewhere deep and never tell anyone where it is." Mika snorted, thinking that her dad was being overdramatic. "And that if Imaar got his hands on it, it would be the end of the world as we know it."

Jaune blinked, mouth agape at the information.

"He's… joking, right?" Came the uncertain question, Jaune sure that this couldn't be a possibility. After all, what kind of crazy world would this be if there was a rolled up piece of paper that could end the world?

Their world, right.

Mika shrugged at the question. "Didn't seem like he was joking to me." Jaune closed his eyes, head in his hands as he tried to think, before Vedrahgol decided to bump in.

 _ **Maldovah, what your father says is true. It is an artifact from our world, what we call an Elder Scroll.**_

 _And it's that powerful?_

 _ **That powerful and more, Maldovah. It is something truly fearful, able to warp reality and time itself. Even the Dov do not dare interfere with the workings of the Elder Scrolls.**_

Jaune blew out a tired breath. Wonder. Great. How fantastic. As if he needed something else to look out for besides the dragons that he had to fight.

"Alright then," Jaune said aloud, looking at his sister. "Thanks Mika. Unless there's something else you need, I've got to get to my camp now." There was a brief pause before Jaune was suddenly gathered up into Mika's arms, her head resting against his cheek as she squeezed him tightly.

"Come back in one piece Jaune. We still need to yell at you for running away without telling us." As the two of them separated, Jaune raised an eyebrow, smiling softly at her.

"I'm pretty sure telling you that I'm running away would defeat the purpose." The girl rolled her eyes, smiling at Jaune.

"Fine then. We'll figure out something else to yell at you for." Jaune laughed softly and leaned in for another quick hug.

"I promise when this is all finished I'll come visit. And then you can yell at me for as long as you guys want." Mika nodded, face stern.

"Good."

* * *

When Jaune arrived at ARC's campsite, things seemed to be in utter disarray, everyone running around as if the place was on fire. Which it wasn't, after Jaune made sure to check.

"What's going on here?" Jaune asked Ruby, who had stopped zooming around long enough to say hi to him. Ruby pointed to Professor Goodwitch, who had a very grim look on her face, and was clutching a clipboard hard enough that her knuckles were completely white.

"Where were you? We tried to call you, but you never picked up." Ruby said, frowning when Jaune explained that he had lost his scroll. Shaking her head, she grabbed one of his hands, leading him towards the Professor. "You really need to stop losing your scrolls Jaune. Come on now, even _I_ don't lose my scrolls as often as you do." Jaune didn't bother rebutting her, and held his silence as he was slowly led to the blonde-haired witch.

Professor Goodwitch nodded at Jaune.

"Mr. Arc. So glad to see that you've finally found the time to visit your teams. If you could so kindly as to help them gather everything up, we're moving out. Posthaste." Jaune nodded, walking alongside the professor.

"Is there a reason why?" Jaune asked, looking back and forth at the teams that he was commanding, seeing everyone gather up their things.

"There's been movement to the south of us. Apparently, Imaar has been able to bring a force of Grimm around towards the back of us, which means that if we do not move now, we'll be crushed in between the northern and southern Grimm."

If it isn't one thing, it's another, it seems.

"How long do we have before they're on top of us?" Jaune asked.

"We have half the day before they're too close for us to get away from them safely."

"Okay then," Jaune said, nodding along. "So… where're going to go?"

Silence.

Professor Goodwitch didn't say a word, the delay long enough that Jaune was tempted to ask again, or make sure that he hadn't suddenly grown deaf. Finally she spoke.

" _We_ are moving… to the west. We're going to try and go around the main forces, and strike the Grimm in the city of Niege before the Grimm can muster up a force against us. We'll need to go through the mountain pass quickly to do so however." Jaune furrowed a brow, not entirely on board with the plan.

"Moving everyone's going to take hours!" Jaune protested. "By the time we get everyone through the pass it'll take half a day."

The professor shook her head. "No, it would take the whole of the United Army several hours to get through the pass. It would take Unit Arc a few minutes."

Jaune stopped walking, letting the woman go forward a few steps before halting, turning around to look at the young leader.

"We're going to go… by our self?" The witch only nodded.

"That's insane!"

"Insane or not Mr. Arc, if we simply decide to stay here, we won't be helping at all. Now then Mr. Arc, are there any more questions that you need addressed, or can we try and save Remnant?" Jaune wilted a little and shook his head, biting his lip in concern.

It might have been their only option, but it was almost as suicidal as staying here to fight.

There were hundreds of thousands of Grimm out there, and Professor Goodwitch expected them to, what? Charge head on and kill them all? Or avoid the massive amount of monsters out there?

Either option seemed pretty impossible.

"How're we going to be leaving?" Jaune asked hurriedly. The pit in his stomach grew. "By Bullhead?" Professor Goodwitch shook her head.

"There's no time to prepare a ship, and even if there was one ready, there would be too much attention on one lone ship. We're going to go on foot." Finally, the hurried woman outpaced Jaune, leaving him behind as he tried to wrap his mind around what was needed.

When it rained, it certainly poured.

A hand rested on his shoulder, bringing his attention to his, uh, to Yang, who had a focused, yet concerned look on her face. Jaune was ready for any comforting words that she would offer him, but instead she pointed to a tent that still hadn't been broken apart yet.

"We need some help clearing the camp up. Are you going to _pitch_ in or just stand there and gape?" Even in the most serious moments, Yang seemed to find a way to joke around. It was enough to snap Jaune out of his funk, and he nodded, stepping forward to help Yang with the tent.

It took less than five minutes, neither of them speaking a word as they gathered and tied everything up, checking and double checking to make sure that they weren't forgetting everything. Ruby zoomed past them again, clutching papers and other small objects in her hands, finding bags to put them all in. Any ammunition that could be spared were packed in separate bags, and all the bags divided amongst the group.

Within the hour, Unit ARC was outfitted with a large backpack, two bags of ammunition, and a bag of toiletries and other things on every person, including Professor Goodwitch, who would, as always, be accompanying them. Something that helped lift some of the weight off of Jaune's shoulders, that was for sure.

With one last final check, Professor Goodwitch nodded and flicked her riding crop, creating a large and roughly drawn out map, instructing the group on where they were heading, and what to do if they encountered Grimm or anything else on Miraak's side. The closest safe place that they could get to would be half a day away, a ransacked village that was reported deserted a few days ago. That meant no more waffling about, and they all set foot, walking quickly away from the main forces.

It wasn't much longer that there were sounds of screaming and fighting behind them, as the Grimm closed in on the United Forces.


	30. Soothing Worries

**A/N: Woo hoo, chapter 30! Oh yea!**

 **ZyxisORA: Sort of kind of. Imaar means something in the dragon language, so that's why I chose it as a name.**

* * *

Trying to avoid the enemy was tougher than it sounded.

Unit ARC numbered thirteen in size when including Professor Goodwitch, and without anything to break them from the several chasing Grimm's sight, it made it almost impossible for them to make a silent escape. In the end, they had to resort to a lot of fighting along with running away, slowing them down even more.

It took almost the rest of the day for them to finally break free from the chasers, and with the sun coming down, they didn't really have an opportunity to continue moving. Grimm would have the advantage in the night if they did, with only one person on their teams being able to see in the nighttime.

Opting not to light a fire, the group spread out their bedrolls and tried to settle in for the night, although many of them couldn't really sleep, tossing and turning from the fact that Imaar's forces could be getting closer and closer by the minute.

Jaune sat on a log, eyes out front and roaming through the darkness, trying to pick up any details that he would need to warn the group about. Professor Goodwitch had initially been the one to try and stay awake, looking out for any dangers. Jaune objected silently by staying up, and it wasn't long before the professor gave a resigned look and gathered herself up for some sleep, too tired to reprimand him.

Fingers twirling around the stick that he had found nearby, Jaune held quiet council with Imaar, occasionally using one of his shouts to detect if there was anyone or anything close to the camp.

 _It's only going to get harder from here_. Jaune thought to Vedrahgol, who didn't disagree with the statement. Separated from the main camp, they had the responsibility of approaching the next dragon and putting it down, as well as what would probably be another horde of Grimm standing in their way.

And that's not even counting on the fact that they had to get there in one piece.

The longer Jaune thought about it, the more unlikely it seemed that they would make it out of this mess alive.

 _ **Maldovah, the longer you go into any fight, the harder it will get. That does not mean that you should give up however. You would be surprised how close many people would be to succeeding in their efforts before they backed away. Push on.**_

Jaune hunched his shoulders, face pensive. _There's not really any other choice for us anymore, is there? We can't go back, we can't go around… the only thing we can do is march forwards and somehow win the war._

 _ **You don't have to win the war. Killing a dragon cripples the enemy, and just that can tip this fight to our favor. Do not think of winning the war. Think of winning the next battle. Only set your mind on the next objective, and you'll find that you finish before you realize.**_

Jaune appreciated Vedrahgol's advice, and he understood that it was the right thing to think about when low in sprits. This was a millennia old being after all, he is certainly wise enough to impart some sound advice.

But it was hard.

 _You're right._ Jaune finally managed, putting down his stick. _What can our next step be?_ Vedrahgol thought to himself, thinking about the battles that they've faced so far, and the goals that they needed to reach. What was needed of them so that they could survive to the next day?

 _ **The faster we kill these dragons, the sooner we can end this fight. Also, if we could kill Imaar, it would more than likely end the war.**_ Jaune nodded. These were statements he had already thought about, but it was nice to hear someone else agree with him. The dragon-soul conitniued to think.

 _ **Heading straight towards the place would be the most unintelligent thing to do, as I'm sure Imaar would keep the route heavily guarded. But if we decide to take a more meandrous route, it could spell the end for the fight.**_

 _Hunters can move a lot faster than regular humans can._ Jaune reminded Vedrahgol, who nodded at the statement. _And if we go full sprint with as little stops as possible, we could still reach the dragon's residence in about the same time, but with less resistance._ Again Vedrahgol nodded.

 _ **But.**_ The dragon interjected, thinking about past events. _**Imaar will have thought about all of this already, and might have adjusted accordingly. He might have to divert some of his forces, but he could afford it.**_

Jaune grit his teeth, reluctantly acknowledging that the dragon priest could have thought about that. By and by, Imaar had proven himself to be a competent tactician, and without regard for his forces, could use his chess pieces with reckless abandon, as all of them were pawns that could be replaced easily enough.

If Jaune wanted to continue with a chess metaphor, he would say that they were facing half a board of various pieces that protected their king, with only two pawns that protected his.

He leaned back, pensive.

Pawns weren't useless. In fact, they could be the pieces that would win you a game when you least expected it. If you distracted the enemy with the bigger pieces long enough, a pawn could become something formidable, which meant…

Jaune thought carefully about what he could do, and came to a plan that might have been the only way that they would all make it out of this alive and in one piece.

It only hinged on the fact that he would have to make several huge, calculated risks that could end them before they even started.

But as always, with great risk comes great reward. And Jaune needed that reward.

And so he planned, continuing to think and create something cohesive that one, would bring everyone that was accompanying him out alive, and two, would be something that they would all agree on in the first place.

His mind was so wrapped up in all of this that he never noticed Yang rising out of her bedroll, having had woken up with a violent shudder. It wasn't a big surprise to her to find Jaune sitting by himself in the middle of the night, and decided to give him some company, also wanting to banish the last dregs of her nightmares out of the back of her mind.

She found him staring into the ground with immense concentration, probably talking with Vedrahgol. And so she brushed off some of the dirt on a spot of the trunk next to Jaune and hopped on it, shaking the thing just enough to cause Jaune to snap out of his 'mode'.

"Yang." He said, greeting her briefly. "I didn't realize you were still awake." The girl shrugged, looking at the dark rings on Jaune's face. It had been a rough day or two for the two of them, what with fighting the dragon and each other accompanied by running away from hordes of Grimm. They were both bone-tired, yet seemingly invigorated, as paradoxical as that sounded.

"I slept a little. Woke up though. Couldn't go back to sleep." Yang looked at the night sky, unobstructed by any artificial lights, the only things illuminating the dark sky being the shattered moon and stars. They both sat in silence, marveling the simple beauty for a while.

"You know, my home back in Patch had almost the same view."

Jaune turned to the girl, who continued to look at the shining stars. She didn't say anything else either, and Jaune nodded, turning back to the sky.

"Yeah, my place was the same way. We lived pretty far away from the city."

Yang nodded in understanding. Lips quirked into a little smile, she leaned over to bump shoulders with the boy, who turned and grinned at the girl.

"You should come visit sometime. My home in Patch. You know, after all of… this." Yang waved at the air around them, talking about the fighting and the dragons and the undead Hunters. All of it. An eyebrow rose from Jaune as he looked at the girl.

"Really? Asking me to meet your parents? Already? We haven't even gone on a date yet." Yang laughed quietly at that, shaking her head.

"Please, that can be our first date. Meeting the parents. Or parent, I guess." Yang's tone turned a little wistful. Jaune didn't really like it, and made for more conversation.

"Well, at least I know of one person from your family that'll like me." Jaune joked, twisting his body to look at the impromptu camping grounds that they had set up for themselves. There were a ton of dark lumps that indicated sleeping bodies, but it wasn't bright enough to see which one Ruby was sleeping in. Yang nodded to what Jaune said with a small smile.

"Yeah. That's not all that hard though. Ruby can like almost anyone. Dust, she could probably like Cardin if they spent enough time together." Yang's face twisted visibly enough to show Jaune how much Yang would like that. Her face softened again as she said, "She got that from our mom. Or, I guess, her mom and my step-mom." Yang corrected herself with a chuckle, although Jaune could see just a hint of pain in her eyes. Jaune didn't ask any questions though, instead reaching out to grab one of her hands.

Yang glanced at the hand, tracing it back up to its owner. Her hand turned over, so that she could grasp onto his fingers.

"Her mom died a while ago. Ruby was almost too young to remember much about her. I… remembered." Yang's eyes grew unfocused as she remembered Summer, and her kindness. "She was a great mom but when she passed away…" The girl turned to look at the lumps, somehow instinctively picking out a figure of the sleeping Ruby from the darkness.

"You decided it was your job to protect her." Jaune finished for her, tightening his grip the barest amount for a brief second, something Yang quickly returned. Looking at her face, it didn't take a genius to see what she was thinking about.

"You're worried about her." Jaune pointed it out, just to get it into the open. Yang's jaw tightened just a little, before nodding.

"How can I not? She's my little sister. I never realized things would be this crazy, or I might've told her not to accept Ozpin's offer to go into Beacon." Yang mumbled something under her breath, still loudly enough for Jaune to hear her say, "I almost did, back then."

"I don't know if it makes it worse or not that I'm right beside her." Yang continued on. "On one hand, I can keep a close eye on her and protect her, but on the other hand…" Yang tossed her hair a little bit, letting it resettle. "She's not the only one I have a duty to protect, and it's hard out there. I would know, I'm fighting here." Jaune nodded.

"If you think this is going to be a rough fight, you can't imagine what Ruby's going through, huh?" Jaune asked, trying to clarify. Yang made a strange noise in the back of her throat, nodding shakily.

"It sucks, having to watch Ruby. She's so… she's so strong, but when I watch her, I'm scared that one day, something will make her break and I won't be there to help. Or worse, I'm _there_ , but there's nothing I can do to help." Yang's head was getting lower and lower as she spoke. "I feel so _powerless_."

Jaune wasn't usually the first person to go and comfort someone, but faced with what he was now, even the most socially awkward can figure out what to do next. With a quick motion Jaune wrapped her in a tight embrace, not bothering to say anything, just holding her as she tried to hide the few tears that slipped out of her eyes.

They stayed like that for however long it was, not caring about the time, only worrying about each other's company, and letting the one lean on the other.

Eventually they settled into a more comfortable posture, almost cuddling with each other. They never said a word, keeping their heads close and their bodies closer, as their eyelids slowly drifted shut and they fell into sleep, the toll of these recent days catching up to them.

And in the morning, when they both woke up, no one bothered to say anything to them, just glad to see that they were able to get some rest.


	31. The More They Fight

**A/N: Hey! Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and a non-punch-everyone-in-the-face Black Friday. I sure did. Got a sweet sweet new mouse and I'm ready to change out my motherboard and CPU. Mmmm, I can just feel my computer appreciating me XD Hope y'all enjoy, potNpaN's back on regular scheduled programming!**

 **Me: I will admit freely that I'm not confident enough to write a dragon balls Jaune. That just seems nuts. Besides, would y'all _want_ three chapters of just a character charging their powers? XD **

* * *

Waking up was always hard for Jaune, especially when he was under the toasty covers of his bed. So when the sunlight hit his eyelids, the only thing he really did was squeeze his eyes shut a little tighter, hoping that the sun would go away. He shifted a little bit under the warmth that covered half his body, leaning into it for more warmth. He would have stayed in that position longer, but was interrupted by a small snicker. With a great amount of effort, Jaune cracked an eyelid open, letting the sun blind him temporarily for a little, while he got adjusted to the sudden light.

As his sight filtered back in, Jaune noticed two things: He was _not_ in his bed, and he was _not_ under his bed sheets.

"What is with all the noise?" Yang mumbled, shifting herself up a little bit, pulling her leg up and making Jaune shiver at the movement. Her hands tightened around Jaune's shirt as she slowly raised her head, blinking blearily as she tried to figure out where she was. It didn't take much longer for her to realize that she was pretty much on top of Jaune, and that they had an audience surrounding them.

The two of their faces grew red as a few members of their teams started laughing at them, making them scramble to get off of each other. Yang accidentally kneed Jaune in the stomach while that happened, making him groan in pain and roll over, hoping that he wasn't going to get attacked again. Yang winced and knelt down, making sure that he was alright.

"Well, as cute as that display was, I think we've been resting for long enough." Professor Goodwitch interrupted the scene, striding in professionally. "It's time to pack up and get ready to move out. We don't want to let the Grimm catch up to us." With the grim reminder of what happened yesterday, the small crowd dispersed, quickly disassembling and packing everything back, and after Yang made sure that Jaune was fine, the two of them set out to help.

It was late morning when they finished, as they all slept in a little, although no one could really blame them for doing so. With a goal set in mind, the group set off, trudging their way towards the city of Neige.

For a group on the run, there wasn't much that actually happened. After Jaune explained to them the route that they were going to take, they traveled quickly, encountered strangely little resistance. Sure, there were a few Grimm in the way, but the amount was something that any one of them could have torn through with ease. Jaune would have even said that before Vedrahgol he could have taken down the amount of Grimm that liked to step in front of them.

They only stopped when the sun was starting to set, content at the distance that they had gone at the moment. Having not eaten for the whole day, the team was ravenous, and quickly set out to make a fire, confident that any Grimm that approached could be detected soon enough to fight or pack up and leave.

Ruby and Pyrrha were sent out to hunt for food while the rest of them made do with snacking on some rations for the moment, mouth watering at the thought of some real food. Jaune was sent up to the tree tops, using his shout to detect Grimm and other things, keeping an eye out and making sure they wouldn't be caught unawares. The rest of the group went to building tents and scavenging nuts and berries, Blake even deciding to go and catch some fish at a nearby stream.

 _You know, I could probably help out with the hunting with this shout. It's pretty handy._ Jaune commented idly after casting said shout. Vedrahgol scoffed, but nodded in agreement.

 _ **Please. If that girl with the long-range weapon had this, she could be sitting here and you could direct her.**_

Jaune paused, realizing that was actually a pretty good idea, noting it down for later. For now though, Ruby and Pyrrha were already returning, having caught a good haul for the thirteen of them.

Professor Goodwitch took this opportunity to use her semblance, making a makeshift spit roast without having to hold anything up, and everyone, finished with their duties, gathered around for a rare chance of some peace and quiet.

A few of them chattered about, Nora and Ruby being the main talkers, bringing the life out of everyone else. Some stayed a little quieter, like Ren, who patiently smiled and nodded along with Nora's antics, or Blake, who was concentrating on getting her fish to an even sear.

Yang had gone to talk with her own team, boisterous, but not exaggeratingly loud. Jaune on the other hand, sat a little to the side, staring into space, enjoying the atmosphere without really joining into it.

A crunch of grass caused him to turn, looking at Cardin. He stood there a little awkwardly, before gesturing at the ground, asking silently if he could sit. Jaune nodded, turning his body so that he could face the mace wielder. As the orange-haired boy settled down, Jaune looked at him questioningly, wondering what would make Cardin of all people want to sit next to him.

The question wasn't answered quickly by any means, what with Cardin staring at the fire as well, then picking some grass, all while scowling and looking as if he wanted to punch something. Jaune wanted to speak, but was unsure if that would do anything but drive the boy sitting next to him away.

"You didn't look all that bad out there when you were fighting that dragon." Cardin finally said, not looking at Jaune. The blonde raised an eyebrow in surprise.

"You saw that?" Jaune asked. Cardin sneered, rolling his eyes.

"Please. Who _didn't_ see that? Even though we were fighting ourselves, it's hard not to notice…" Cardin tried to find words to describe the fight, hands gesturing vaguely. "All of that." He finished, giving up. "It was intense, even from far away." Jaune nodded.

"Thanks."

The two of them fell into silence again, and Jaune decided that wondering what Cardin wanted to do was going to be a waste of time, focusing his attention on Yang instead. The girl had found a way to bear hug two people, gathering Blake and Ruby into her arms, the cat faunus almost hissing at her as she almost lost grip of her fish. Jaune couldn't help but smile at that, something Cardin noticed.

"So, you and blondie's together now, huh?"

Jaune nodded, his smile growing a little wider. Cardin turned to look at Yang too, nodding with Jaune.

"She's not a bad catch. A little violent," Jaune chuckled a little at Cardin's description. "but not a bad chick to have."

This was getting a little weird to Jaune at this point. Given, Jaune doubted that Cardin only interacted by bullying and mocking others, but that was the Cardin that Jaune knew, and him displaying any other emotions, and nice as they might be, was a little disconcerting.

"Why'd you come over here Cardin?" Jaune said, curious. Cardin turned to look at the boy, finally looking him in the eyes. Without knowing much about Cardin, Jaune could only say that there was a calmness in his eyes, something Jaune had a hard time attributing to the boy.

"I just wanted to say… you're not so bad, Jaune." Cardin managed. Jaune raised an eyebrow, a little confused. Funny, he was pretty sure that was something he was supposed to say to Cardin, not the other way around. "I… picked on you before because you… well, you seemed weak." Cardin admitted, something Jaune could agree to. "And that was wrong of me. We're all here to help people out and… just standing up and going to the academy when you know you aren't as strong as everyone else… that takes guts." There was a lot that Cardin wasn't saying, and Jaune had a feeling that no matter how much he pried, he would never get Cardin to say it. But it was enough for Jaune, who was always quick to forgive.

"Thank Cardin. You're not so bad yourself."

The boy smiled weakly, hesitating a brief moment before coughing into his hands, standing up abruptly, startling Jaune. "Well, glad we've got that out of the way." Cardin said carelessly, as if making up for his tentative way of speaking just a minute ago. "I'm going to go make sure my teammates don't get beat up by the girls." Jaune looked over to see Weiss brandishing her rapier, pointing it at the chastised boys of team CDNL.

Cardin stepped in smoothly, grabbing his teammates by the necks and dragging them along, finding a spot to lecture them at. Everyone else blinked in surprise, watching open-mouthed as Cardin looked a little more like a responsible adult for once. Even Professor Goodwitch seemed a little floored at the sight, accidentally lowering the venison a little too low on the fire, causing it to crackle a little.

Yang looked at him with a confused stare, asking silently what he had done to Cardin. Jaune just shook his head, just as lost as she was about this. He was about to stand up to join the group when another set of footsteps seemed to crunch right up in his ears, making him turn.

A large blade fell, ready to cleave Jaune in half.

* * *

"So… this is where you last heard of the Elder Scroll?"

The voice sent shivers down Cinder's spine, who nodded, not wanting to speak. The man in the mask took a step forward, looking calmly at the scene before him.

Mountains stretched further than the eye could see, cragged rocks and caves littered throughout the place. So much… energy flowed through the mountains that no amount of detection magic would work.

The perfect place to hide an extremely powerful artifact, like the Elder Scroll.

His hands shook imperceptibly, his heartbeat pumping. Finally, a gateway to his power, to his way home. And when he went home, he would bring back these… creatures of darkness, and rule over Nirn. And when he's finished with that world, he'll come back, a thousand times stronger, and rule over this world, the world with one shattered moon and warriors that could defeat a hundred men.

On the outside he was calm, but on the inside, his body was on fire, his very _being_ becoming passionate. A ruler of not one, but two worlds. How would that feel like?

"Good." Imaar said, an amused tone rumbling through the air. "Very good."


	32. Zombies!

**A/N: Woo hoo! Next chapter! Enjoy!**

* * *

Jaune leaned as fast as he possibly could, the blade only able to make a shallow cut on his shoulder. Falling to his side, Yang sprung, fist thrusting out to attack the assailant. It met resistance against the face of the attacking man, flinging him backwards.

Jaune had just enough time to stand up shakily and draw his sword when several people rained down on the group, not a single word or sound heard as they dropped down. On the other side however, there was a lot of confusion and shouting, as Unit ARC tried to figure out what was happening and how they could have gotten such a jump on them.

Jaune in particular was stunned, so much that he was being pushed back by a pair of swordsmen, a girl and a guy with no expressions on their faces, their pupils glowing purple.

 _How did they slip past the shout? Doesn't that show everything around me with a beating heart?_

Vedrahgol was quick to answer.

 _ **How else do you think they did it? Their hearts aren't beating, Maldovah. Now concentrate!**_

Jaune ducked under the blade and drew in a breath, shouting, "Fus Ro Dah!" blasting the two backwards and slamming them into trees. Taking the brief respite, Jaune turned to see Yang taking on three people, dodging and weaving through them while occasionally blasting them backwards with a punch or shotgun blast. Jaune went to help Yang, but was intercepted when the pair that he had just blown back fell on him again, forcing him to pull out his shield and deflect a blade, jabbing out with Crocea Mors. Cursing at himself, Jaune decided that he was going to need to dispatch these two before having to worry about anyone else.

Parrying one blade, Jaune slammed his shield into the chest of the male swordsman, pushing him back long enough for Jaune to swing the flat of his sword at the female, striking hard enough to stagger her back, Jaune hearing an audible crack as he broke her neck.

With one out of the way, Jaune turned his attention towards the man, who charged recklessly at Jaune, who smartly sidestepped and smacked the guy across the face with his pommel, sending him onto the ground. As his blood started to pump, Jaune let out a vicious snarl and stomped onto the man's neck, hearing a faint snap.

 _ **Yes!**_

Jaune faltered as he realized what he had just done, horrified when he felt a surge of satisfaction in doing it. He had just killed a person, and he felt stronger and keener for another fight than he's ever been. The thought of that made a part of him sick, but mostly just hungry to get into another fight.

As indecision wracked his body, he didn't notice when the swordswoman stood up and jabbed him with her sword, the tip sinking into his lower back. A pained gasp escaped his mouth and he twirled around, reflexively letting out a shout and setting the woman on fire, who simply ignored the flames and continued to attack Jaune.

 _What the hell are these things?!_ Jaune raised his shield to block the blade, stepping back to avoid getting too close to the flaming woman.

 _ **They are the undead. Imaar must have used necromancy to resurrect your fallen soldiers, bending them to do his bidding.**_

The sword swings started to slow down as the fire finally started to affect the woman, if only because it was burning through the muscle and tendons that allowed her to swing and use the sword. Jaune used that opportunity to use a shout on her, blasting her backwards once more, except this time, when she hit a tree, she exploded into a purplish dust. There wasn't any time to relax though, as Jaune faced the male swordsman, broken neck and everything, when the knight turned around.

 _Imaar can bring the dead back to life? How's that even fair?_

Vedrahgol let out an amused chuckle, shaking his enormous head. _**It is funny how you think a war can be fought fairly.**_

Jaune let the sword graze against his shield, using the vulnerable motion to step forward and bash the zombie swordsman again, sending him back a few paces. Jaune didn't let up on his pressure, and stepped forwards once again, holding Crocea Mors in both his hands, thrusting the sword deep into the chest of the undead man.

The swordsman wailed, opening his mouth as he exploded into dust. What Jaune didn't expect was flames to also explode from within the body, expanding outwards before fading completely.

When he turned to look at the his teammates fighting, he saw several of the undead Huntsman on fire, not even bothering to fight at that point, instead fleeing into the woods. The fire seemed to have brought a fear that Jaune didn't know zombies even had. Everyone else looked at him, disbelieving stares on their faces. The dragon hunter pointed at the fleeing mass.

"Those guys are dead and are under Imaar's spell! We can't let them get away!"

The unit mobilized under Jaune's command, no hesitation in their movements as they gave chase, intent on weakening the Dragon Priest's forces.

It wasn't a long chase, as the undead turned back around to fight again once the flames subsided, intent on bringing the group down. That didn't happen, as Unit ARC knew they had the beings on the back foot, and as Jaune impaled a few more walking corpses, the unit discovered that every time he did so causes an explosion that threw flames outwards, sticking onto any of the undead and causing them to go into a mass panic, something that didn't catch Unit ARC off guard again.

As they got rid of the last of the zombies, Unit Arc fell off their feet, exhausted at the suddenness that had just occurred to them.

"How did that even happen?" Weiss asked, wiping some sweat off of her forehead. "I thought your semblance could see things like this." The tone was slightly accusing, but Jaune didn't think anything of it, knowing that he had messed up.

"Yeah. Apparently the undead don't get noticed by my shout. Which sucks." Jaune rested his forearm over his arms, panting.

"Wait a second. Are you saying that we just fought zombies?" Nora's tone was incredulous, but there was a sparkle in her eye and a grin on her face. Turning to Ren, she shook him hard. "Ren! We just fought zombies! We're zombie hunters now!"

Jaune nodded, agreeing with Nora somewhat, which was the most anyone could ever agree with Nora. "Yeah, they're zombies, to put it in simpler terms."

"That's not disheartening at all." Weiss frowned at the thought, before turning her attention fully on Jaune. "And what was that that you were doing? How come every one of those things exploded when you stabbed them?" Jaune glanced down at his sword, which dully reflected the sunlight hitting against it.

"I have no idea." Jaune said, consulting his dragon-soul, who didn't seem to have a concrete answer either.

 _ **It is a weapon of the Divines. I have a hard time figuring that stuff out.**_

"Well, whatever it is, I'm glad we have it." Yang breathed out, leaning against Jaune. "We'll just get Jaune to handle the zombies next time." Jaune cast an playfully annoyed glance at her, shoving her softly off of him with his shoulder.

"Maybe we should just get you angry and throw you in the middle of them all, seeing as how fire seems to set them off." Jaune shot back. Yang chuckled at that, lightening the mood of the group, who smiled along, happy that they had all gotten out of that in one piece.

Pyrrha stood up abruptly, startling Cardin, who sat next to her.

"I think I'm going to go have a lookout to see if there are any more of them out there." Without another word she disappeared into the woods, leaving everyone to raise their eyebrows in question.

Obliviousness was one thing that anyone could attribute to Jaune, but even he was getting an inkling of what was wrong, and got up to his feet too.

"Actually, I think I'll go and make sure Pyrrha's alright." Jaune said softly, getting an encouraging nod from Yang. As he disappeared into the woods to follow his partner, Yang looked around the site, before exhaling loudly and letting her body fall completely to the floor, completely tucked out.

* * *

"Pyr, wait!"

The Amazon stopped in her tracks but didn't turn around, hand resting on one of the tree trunks. Jaune's boots crunched against the fallen leaves and he went to catch his breath. It hadn't taken long for him to catch up to Pyrrha, but he had already been winded and tired from the fight that they all had, and wasn't completely recovered yet.

When he was finally able to speak without sounding like he was drowning, Jaune stood up straight looking uncertainly at his partner. "Are you alright Pyrrha?" He asked carefully, taking a step forward.

There wasn't a vocal answer, but the Amazon nodded, not moving an inch otherwise. Jaune frowned at that, and took another step closer.

"Pyrrha, please turn around and talk to me."

"…Why?" Came the quiet reply, voice shaking slightly as the girl talked. One step was followed by several more until Jaune was close enough to touch Pyrrha, resting his hand on her shoulder softly, his tone matching in gentleness.

"Because I can't be sure you're alright unless you look at me and talk to me." Jaune said, trying to coax her to turn around. He ignored the rushing of blood that commanded him to just spin her around and berate her for worrying him like that, knowing that doing so would only worsen the situation.

Pyrrha shook her head, hand turning into a fist as she scraped the bark off of the tree with how hard she was gripping it. Jaune continued to try and convince her to turn around.

"Pyr, please. If you aren't going to turn around, at least talk to me. That's what partners do, right?"

It took a little while longer before she spoke.

"I'm alright Jaune. Please, I just need to be left alone." Jaune didn't even believe that, hearing her voice shake so much that her words were practically vibrating, and her whole body shaking too.

"No you aren't Pyrrha. Please, just talk to me." Jaune repeated, hand gripping tightly for a second. She spun, angry tears on her face and she snapped at him.

"How would you know if I was okay or not?! You've been too busy to pay attention to me!"

Jaune flinched at the outburst, but wasn't able to say anything in his defense.

"I'm supposed to be your partner! Your friend! But… It seems like I'm always the last person to find out anything about you!" Pyrrha stepped forwards and pushed Jaune, causing him to flop onto his behind.

She stood there, trembling as tears spilled from her face, making Jaune feel worse and worse by the second. Standing up, Jaune reached out and hugged her, hoping that it would help, if only just a little.

"I'm sorry Pyr. I sorry. I don't mean to be like that." Jaune whispered quietly, letting Pyrrha shake and sob. Neither said a word while this happened, Jaune just allowing her to let it all out, simply stroking her back and occasionally whispering apologies to her. Finally she was able to calm down, and stepped back away from Jaune, rubbing the tears of out her eyes.

"I-I'm sorry Jaune." Pyrrha was always one quick to apologize, not wanting to hurt anyone through any action of hers. "That was wrong of me to say. I know you've been having your own problems and I shouldn't assume that you should tell me everything about what's happened to you."

The knight shook his head, frowning at the fact that Pyrrha was still pushing the blame onto herself even when it was all his fault.

"Don't blame yourself Pyr. You're right, I've been holding back on you and I hadn't even noticed. I'll be better. I promise." Jaune nodded, smiling at her. Pyrrha smiled back tentatively.

"And an Arc never goes back on his word." She completed for him, knowing exactly what he would say next. The boy chuckled, nodding in agreement. They stood there quietly for a minute, before Jaune spoke again.

"Pyrrha, about… Yang and I…" Jaune wasn't sure how to start this, and looking at Pyrrha's hurt face, he wasn't sure he wanted to continue. Pyrrha was quick to relieve Jaune of this though, shaking her head and smiling.

"I'm glad that you've found someone for yourself Jaune. I'm… happy for you." The smile on her face wasn't entirely convincing, but Jaune was forced to let it go, happy that she was just talking to him. Nodding Jaune tilted his head to the side, pointing to where their group of friends were.

"Come on, let's get back to our friends."


	33. Ghosts!

**A/N: Alright, time for another announcement. I'm gonna be putting AIS onto hiatus until around mid-January. Apparently, as the break starts, I actually have _less_ time to write than I do when I'm at school. Sorry. I'll be doing the same with AAA. Think of this week as a mid-season break XD Anyways, with this chapter out, the ending for both stories is coming to a close, so I think these two will be finished sometime around March, maybe earlier of next year. :) Hope you guys have a wonderful Christmas! Enjoy!**

* * *

With the encouragement of not knowing when another attack would be imminent, the group only took a quick breather before moving into action, taking the last leg of the trek towards the city of Niege.

Reaching the city was almost anti-climactic compared to the journey they had. In fact, when they arrived at the looming gate along the city, there was almost no sound as they walked around.

In fact, there was no one in the city at all.

"Still no one?"

Ruby shook her head, eyes concerned as she zoomed back towards the ARC Unit.

"I didn't look everywhere, but there wasn't anyone around where I was looking." Ruby scratched her cheek. "And I looked at a lot of places."

Jaune nodded, letting out a quiet breath. "Alright. Abandoned city. That sounds like fun." Jaune turned to the rest of the group. "Everyone be one their toes. I don't like this at all." The unit didn't say anything, only taking out their weapons. "Let's split up into our own teams and spread out, try to find out what happened here."

With that, the unit split up into their own teams, spreading themselves outwards to poke around the town. Professor Goodwitch was assigned to head towards the center of the city, and to make sure that it was safe to rendezvous at after they were finished.

Team JNPR took towards the eastern side of the town, opening up houses to scavenge for supplies and trying to find any sign of life, or at the worst scenario, bodies. There wasn't much talking, and even Nora could understand the gravity of the situation, keeping her quips to a minimum. After almost an hour of spotting nothing even vaguely human-like, Jaune decided to consult Vedrahgol.

 _Hey, do you have a bad feeling about this too?_

The dragon-soul nodded slightly, letting out a rumbling breath. _**It's not just a bad feeling Maldovah. Feel the air little one. Do you feel that?**_ Jaune shook his head, turning his body left and right to find what Vedrahgol was talking about. The dragon let out another breath, this one tinged with frustration.

 _ **You humans and your lack of sensitivity. There is a malaise in the air. Something is here, hiding.**_

 _ **And watching.**_

The hairs on the back of Jaune's neck rose, and Jaune couldn't help but turned around to try and find what the dragon was talking about. It wasn't very discreet, but the knight wasn't really trying to be. Ren caught the movement and took a step closer.

"Is there something wrong Jaune?" He asked in a whisper, eyes flicking back and forth in front of them. Jaune did the same, lowering himself a little bit to whisper back.

"There's something watching us, and it's not something good."

Ren didn't respond at all, except for tightening the grip on StormFlower. "I'll make sure we're all looking out for it." He faded backwards, towards Nora and Pyrrha, where a few quiet words were exchanged with the two in the back, who simply nodded and the four continued on their way towards the next unexplored sections.

Checking the time, Jaune made a quick gesture for them to head towards the center of town, the time for them to meet back up at the rendezvous nearing. Once they came back together, the groups discussed what they had found, to their eventual disappointment.

"Nothing? Really?" Jaune bit his thumbnail, frustrated. "What happened to everyone in Niege? They can't have all just disappeared without some sort of reason why." Cardin shook his head, arms crossed.

"Yeah, the only thing my team could find was a few cans and bottles of water. Clothes, perishable foods, everything else is gone."

Closing his eyes, Jaune sighed. "Well, if that's the case, then let's just find a house to stay the night in before we move on. At least we won't have to worry about getting ambushed in the open again for once." Everyone agreed on a decent house, where Professor Goodwitch used her semblance to unlock the front door. The Unit spread out and divided the bedrooms for each team, all of them used to living with each other, with Professor Goodwitch getting her own. With a quick dinner, they decided that locking the doors and closing the blinds should be enough of a warning for them, and agreed wholeheartedly on not needing someone to keep a night watch.

Yang found Jaune sitting in the kitchen of the house, staring into a wall as everyone else got ready for bed. Sneaking up on him wasn't hard when he was in this mood, as she probably could have slammed the doors open and jump into a chair and have him not react at all. So Yang decided to wrap her arms around the knight, resting her chin on his shoulder, expecting him to jump up in surprise.

The only thing that the brawler didn't expect was to get sucked into Jaune's mindscape as he conferred with Vedrahgol, getting dropped right next to the boy, who screamed in surprise.

"Wh- Yang? What're you doing here?"

Yang looked at Jaune blankly, before turning to Vedrahgol.

"I… was trying to surprise you by hugging you. But I got sucked into… here, wherever here is, instead." Yang shrugged, standing up. "Well, at least I got you to jump." She said, grinning. Jaune scowled at the girl.

"Not funny." He said shortly, which Yang outright ignored, walking up to Vedrahgol.

"Hey there Veddy! How've you been?"

The dragon dipped his head in a sign of greeting. _**I have been well, thank you Krienmon.**_ Yang grinned, reaching up to pat his snout.

"So, you got any idea why I got sucked in?" She asked, looking at the dragon, who could probably snap her up in one bite. The dragon-soul looked contemplative, before shaking his head.

 _ **I am not sure krienmon. I will admit that Remnant has done many things with the powers I know so well, and I can only hazard a guess of what has happened. Perhaps after being exposed to me, you have become more receptive to my soul?**_ Vedrahgol shrugged. _**I cannot be sure**_ **.**

"Oh." Yang said. "That's pretty cool actually."

Again the dragon nodded. _**Yes. Very 'cool'.**_

Jaune just stared at the two of them conversing as if nothing strange had happened. Then again, this _is_ normal for them, Jaune guessed. Crossing his arms, he frowned, eager to continue the subject that the two of them were talking about before Yang dropped in.

"Vedrahgol, about what we discussed earlier?" The dragon turned to his host, looking at Jaune for a second before nodding.

 _ **Ah. Yes. I can think of a few beings that could stir unrest simply by their presence.**_ Yang looked between the two of them, catching on quickly.

"You think there's something that's causing the bad feeling here?" She asked, to which Jaune nodded.

"Yeah. Vedrahgol pointed out that we were being followed while we were scouting the place out, and I have a feeling that you guys were followed too." Yang looked concerned about that, nodding once or twice, tapping her fingers while she thought back.

"Yeah." She said. "Yeah, I can think of a few times I felt like that was happening. Which is weird, 'cause usually Blake would be able to hear them." Jaune nodded, knowing that Blake's ears were a lot more sensitive than human ones.

 _ **Yes, but these would not be heard, nor seen. If one is not searching for them, one may only feel a gust of cold wind past if they get too fast.**_ Jaune blinked, pairing up the dragon's description with things that he knew, and paled quickly.

"You can't mean..." Jaune didn't even want to say the word, afraid that saying it would mean his fear would come true. Yang wasn't exactly sure why Jaune paled, but knew it couldn't have been a good thing. Vedrahgol simply nodded.

 _ **Yes. Spectral beings. Intangible and invisible, until they decide to strike.**_

Jaune put his head in his palms, despair growing. "In other words, ghosts." The dragon nodded.

 _ **Some would call them that, yes.**_

The knight sat down with a plop, not even caring anymore. "First zombies, then ghosts." He muttered despondently, rubbing his face. "Can't wait for the vampires and werewolves to come too." Yang snickered a little at the display, but knelt down to console her boyfriend. Vedrahgol simply tilted his head upwards, before shaking it.

 _ **No, I doubt he would have the magic to pull those creatures into Remnant. Demons on the other hand...**_

"Please, Vedrahgol," Jaune held out a hand, stopping the dragon. "Please stop talking." The dragon-soul snapped his jaws shut, dipping his head. Jaune resumed his quiet display of despair, burying his head again into his hands.

"This isn't going to get easier, is it?" Jaune whispered, to which Yang shook her head.

"Nope. That's why you need to get stronger Jauney. I'd rather not see you fight two dragons at once or something, 'cause you can barely kill one." Yang teased softly, shaking his knee. The boy turned to smile at her, hand placed on hers.

"I meant would getting used to the weird stuff that always happens to us be easier. But that works too."

Yang laughed at that, shaking her head. "Jaune, the sooner you give into the fact that our lives are always going to be weird, the sooner life gets to be a _lot_ easier. Trust me." Jaune raised his head, lifting a skeptical eyebrow.

"No."

"Thought so."

Jaune sighed again, Yang laughing along with Vedrahgol.

* * *

The night was filled with restless sleep, as Jaune tossed and turned under the malice filled air, choking his lungs. He dreamed of death and horrors, with his friends and family disappearing and dying off, indescribable monsters tearing them apart. Then came an oasis.

A man stood in the center of the dream, around him an air of serenity, calmness. The only thing that Jaune questioned were the slight protrusions that appeared to be sticking out of his lower lips, little tusks not unlike the ones of boarbatusks.

He held out his hand, and Jaune didn't need to hear him speak to know what he promised. Freedom. Sanctity. All under his protection. All Jaune would need to do was kneel and... submit. It would all be over. The great responsibility of protecting Remnant would be lifted off of his shoulders, to be placed under the man's will. All the knight needed to do was take the man's hand and kneel.

Submit.

Jaune reached out with shaking fingers, wanting the torment and pain to stop, wanting everything to feel safe, only for another man to grab hold of his hands, shouting something that Jaune couldn't hear. Jaune crinkled his brow in confusion, trying to make out the words that the man was shouting. But...

Jaune could still feel the pressure inside his head, the tusked man urging him silently to disregard whatever the other man said and push him aside, and hold the serene man's hand. But...

Again the man in front of him shouted, almost looked like he was begging him. Jaune could almost hear the man, but it was murky, unclear, as if he was speaking through thick liquids. The pressure inside his head increased, almost painfully as the message repeated itself. Submit, submit, submit, submit, SUBMIT.

 _ **NO!**_

Finally Jaune could hear the other man's voice, rough and low, almost as if it could rumble the ground below when he spoke. It sounded incredibly familiar, in fact...

Jaune looked closer at the man's eyes and found them slitted, yellow, and wise, although panicked, frantic. He knew those eyes.

"Vedrahgol..." Jaune whispered, eyes widening in realization. "What're you trying to tell me?"

The sound started to become stronger as the knight realized who was in front of him: his ally, his friend, a part of his _soul_.

... _**WAKE UP!**_

And Jaune opened his eyes, looking around to find himself standing in the middle of Niege's town square, surrounded by his Unit. Beside him was Yang, who stood there like a puppet, arms held stiffly by her side, head tilted upwards, but eyes closed.

What was...?

Tracing the path of where his group was supposedly looking, Jaune looked straight above him, finding a glowing staff swirling with energy, pulsing in a sick light.

 _What's going on?_ The dragon spoke quickly, but also urged Jaune to move outside of the circle.

 _ **This is the work of two Daedric Princes, trying to subjugate you and your humans.**_

 _Subjugate, what're you talking about?_

As if Jaune had spoken out loud, the staff pulsed once, and the group surrounding him opened their eyes, shining with a sickly green color. In an almost practiced manner, each and every one of them slid the weapons out and stood in a battle-ready stance.

"Oh. Huh. Crap."

With those words, several dozen ghosts appeared, wielding kitchen implements and makeshift weapons in their hands.

"Well. Shit."


	34. Fighting Back

**A/N: Wow. I am an idiot. I completely forgot to upload this chapter, even though I already had it waiting in the Manager. Smh. Sorry. XD  
**

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After a year of training at Beacon, as well as fighting a war against Cinder, Jaune had faced and fought several people wielding dozens of different types of weapons. With the help of his friends and teammates, he improved his fighting style and learned to adapt on the fly. Sure, he still was nowhere close to Pyrrha's level of adaptation, but at least nowadays he wasn't caught off guard because of someone wielding strange instruments of mass destruction. Unfortunately, Pyrrha had never gone over what to expect when Jaune was faced with kitchen knives and cutlery.

A four-pronged fork whistled in the air as it flew towards Jaune's eye, blocked from its trajectory as he raised his shield. The barrier also caught a few other knives, forks, and sharp spoons flying towards Jaune. With a yelp, the knight scrambled backwards and jumped through a window, rolling and slinging the shield onto his back, sprinting through the alleyways. He could feel a few more kitchen implements striking his shield, but none of them were strong enough for Jaune to feel it much.

 _Crack!_

Of course, sniper bullets were way stronger than thrown kitchen tools, and caused Jaune to stumble and lose his footing, making him to crash into the ground. Cursing quietly, he struggled to pick himself up, spitting out some loose gravel that made its way into his mouth.

 _ **Jaune, above!**_

Without thinking, the knight raised his head and shouted "Fus Ro Dah!", blasting a green-eyed Blake backwards, her yowling fading into the distance.

"Uh. Whoops?"

 _ **Behind you!**_

Again, without much time to talk, Jaune spun around, swinging his sword around to meet Pyrrha's shield, ducking under the thrust of her javelin. Then she kicked him, sending him backwards and hitting the wall to the side of him, knocking his out his breath. Gasping, Jaune rolled away from another sharp slice that went through the brick and mortar behind him. _I'm too slow to fight against Pyrrha_ , Jaune thought, which was something that Vedrahgol wholeheartedly agreed to. Deciding that fighting wasn't going to amount to much, Jaune turned and ran, wincing every time Pyrrha sent a shot flying out of the rifle form of Miló. Of course it wouldn't be that simple, as Nora crashed into the ground in front of him, hand gripping Magnhild menacingly. Jaune looked up to see Ren standing on one of the rooftops, which means leaving that route wasn't going to work either. Taking a deep breath, Jaune simply decided that the best way out was through.

Sprinting towards Nora, Jaune screamed, which didn't faze the girl at all. The shield on his back protected him from any shots aimed at the back, his aura taking care of any stray shots that weren't deflected initially. Nora hefted her hammer upwards, and swung hard, aiming to pop Jaune's head like a watermelon.

"Feim Zii Gron!"

And he passed cleanly through Nora, running as fast as he could, lungs unburdened as he stayed in this weightless form. Taking advantage of his current form, Jaune fazed through several walls, losing his friends in the process. It would've been a great success, if he didn't slam into a wall of ghosts standing in front of him, holding up their pitchforks and saw blades menacingly. Jaune stopped in his tracks and turned to the left, only to find the ghosts quickly surrounding him. Gritting his teeth, Jaune raised his sword high into the air as his form bled back into reality. With a fierce yell that sounded more like a panicked scream, Jaune slashed towards the nearest ghost, cutting him cleanly in half.

The last thing Jaune expected was the ghost wailing, and then exploding, ethereal fire spreading across the room, touching nothing but the ghosts that stood inside. They all screamed in pain and dispersed, several fading away completely, while the rest simply fled the scene. Jaune stood there in open-mouthed shock, looking at Crocea Mors with wonder. The simple blade seemed to gleam, almost like it was winking back at the knight.

A cracking sound behind him pulled him back into reality, and Jaune jumped back, the wall behind him crumbling as Cardin stepped through, with Nora and Yang following close behind.

 _Every single hard hitter,_ Jaune noted, holding up his sword and swinging his shield around. He collapsed the shield back into a sheath, clipping it back on his belt, holding the arming sword with both hands high up in the sky, an unspoken challenge towards the three of them. The three of them gladly took the challenge, sprinting towards him without a word spoken between them. The blonde boy mentally counted their steps, and when they were close enough, he shouted at them, blasting them back with the simple power of an unrelenting force.

"Fus Ro Dah!"

Once again they were caught off guard, Cardin and Nora blown backwards. Yang on the other hand, managed to side step the blast, path diverted for a brief second before she continued to charge at Jaune. With his sword still ready, Jaune swung it in a downwards arc, slamming it onto the brawlers cuffs as she raised them to block the blade. Jaune readied himself for another shout, but his breath was knocked aside as Yang changed tactics, crouching and tackling Jaune, causing them both to stumble onto the ground.

They struggled back and forth, fists and knees and elbows making contact as they tried to knock the other one out.

 _I can't kill Yang,_ Jaune thought desperately. He couldn't kill any of his friends. There had to be another way, any other way that could stop them from attacking him. Vedrahgol answered back just as frantically.

 _ **Do you notice something strange about the way they are all moving?**_

Jaune had a hard time thinking about something like that when Yang was still trying to gouge his eyes out, but with so much practice splitting his focus between inner conversations and outer, Jaune slowly pieced together what Vedrahgol wanted him to realize.

 _They're slower than usual. Sloppier._

 _ **Exactly! This means they are still fighting against the pull of Molag Bal. We simply just need to give them the final push to break free!**_

 _Well, I hope you've got something up your sleeve, 'cause I certainly don't._ Jaune wheezed as an elbow connected near his stomach, frighteningly close to his jewels. Using his legs, Jaune wrapped them around Yang's hips and spun, landing on top of her and straddling her stomach, pinning her down with his weight.

 _ **I do. It's just…**_

 _Just what? Tell me already!_ Jaune leaned left and right to avoid Yang's wide swings, her fists whistling through the air.

 _ **You are not ready for this. It may harm you quite a bit if you do not prepare yourself appropriately.**_

Jaune growled, miraculously managing to grab Yang's wrists and pinning her down completely, although he wasn't so sure he could last against her bucking him so violently for much longer.

 _Just give it to me!_

All hesitation went out the window as Vedrahgol imparted him the knowledge and means to use this power, and Jaune opened his mouth, shouting the words that rippled across the air, causing Yang to scream in pain.

"Gol Hah Dov!"

And suddenly Jaune couldn't see. He couldn't smell, he couldn't touch, he couldn't hear a single thing. Suddenly his body was floating in a black abyss, and he couldn't bring himself to care for anything in the world. All was peaceful. Blissful. Jaune wanted to stay forever.

But he couldn't.

Just as suddenly as he had entered the state of blinding bliss, Jaune was pulled out of it, and every pain that he had suffered, every tired creak of the bones, every pounding headache that he had felt the last few months visited him with a vengeance, and his vision whited out, this time because of the immense pain. It was torture to the highest degree, and Jaune's body vibrated with pain.

Then, a little bit of warmth.

It wasn't much, but it was enough to take Jaune's mind off of the hurt that his body was going through. It flickered like a flame, and Jaune dove into it, letting the fire spread across his whole body. From his lips, to his head, to his chest and all the way through the rest of his being.

Opening his eyes, Jaune saw Yang pull away from the kiss, eyes full of concern.

"Hey there." The knight croaked, feeling like the inside of his throat had been scratched out by sandpaper. Yang smiled a little, but her eyes never changed, still watching him, wondering if everything was alright. He found that his hands were still gripped tightly across Yang's wrists, his whole body locked in place. Releasing his grip made his hands hurt, but he managed to do it, rolling off of her body.

"You alright there?"

Jaune didn't bother lying, shaking his head, wanting to sleep for the next month. The world wasn't so kind, as Nora and Cardin returned, this time accompanied by the rest of their teams, as well as Team RWBY, ready to fight Jaune. The blonde boy felt Yang tug on his arm, strong enough that it pulled him up to his feet, Yang's eyes flaring as she looked at everyone standing in front of her.

"Alright," Yang said lowly, "Running it is." And took off with a sprint, roaring as she blasted a hole through the nearest wall. The others started their chase, no sound being made from them. Gunfire rang out as well, some of them taking potshots at the retreating forms.

Jaune stumbled along as best he could, but his mind was still in shambles, his body still aching from the previous use of the shout.

"Just… leave me… behind." Jaune said slowly. Yang slowed down and turned to look at him, eyebrows arched. "I'll… slow you down… just go…"

"You've got to be kidding me." Yang said dryly, swinging them abruptly into a nearby alley. They stayed there for a moment, not daring to breathe as the their mind-controlled friends rushed past, intent on searching for them. The two of them waited until all was quiet before Yang set Jaune down, a vicious frown on her face.

"You can't possibly think that I'm just going to leave you here."

"Why not?" Jaune challenged, grunting as he struggled to keep himself sitting upright.

"Well for one, what would I even do if I 'go at it alone'?" Yang rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. "Am I just supposed to go and kill dragons by myself and win the war or something. That's not really my responsibility."

"You don't have to fight." Jaune objected weakly, before getting steamrolled over by Yang.

"Yeah, I kind of do! All of our friends aren't… well, themselves, and you think I'm just going to leave them like that? I know you aren't the brightest bulb around, but I didn't realize you were _that_ burnt out." Jaune frowned at the comparison, but couldn't really think of anything to say back to her.

"Alright then. What do _you_ think we should be doing?" Jaune shot back at her, to which she replied with a smirk.

"We fight. Like we always do. You snapped me out of it, so why can't we do the same for everyone else?"

Jaune shook his head, pointing at himself. "Do you see me right now? I… almost lost it trying to get you free. I don't think I can do this _one_ more time, let alone a dozen more."

"We'll figure something out." Yang said, her tone impatient, insistent. Jaune sighed, resting his head against the wall. His mind was still in shambles, and it hurt just thinking about his Shouts at the moment. But Yang was right. They couldn't stop here.

"Fine. Help me up." Jaune held out a hand, letting Yang pull him up again. Letting go, Jaune discovered his sense of balance again, his legs not giving away under his weight. The boy gave a shaky smile to Yang, who sighed in relief, before closing in and kissing him.

"What was that for?" Jaune asked, stunned at the feeling. Yang smirked and slammed her knuckle together, making a menacingly loud sound.

"Something to draw inspiration from."

Jaune nodded, his mind whirring, _finally_ , and allowing him to think.

"I think I might have just the thing."


	35. Skull of Corruption

**A/N: Hope y'all enjoy. Sorry for the mix up last week!**

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"This was your plan?"

Yang didn't sound very happy about what Jaune had discussed with her, and quite frankly, Jaune didn't feel all that good about it either. The boy shrugged, scratching the back of his head.

"Well, Vedrahgol said that there was this... wrongness to the air, and it couldn't just have appeared out of nowhere. I mean, didn't you notice that there were some places that had a really bad feeling and others that... didn't?" Jaune cringed at his words, knowing that he had done a poor job of explaining it to Yang. Nevertheless, the blonde girl nodded, her face thoughtful.

"Yeah, there was a few times when we were out in the city that I the hair on the back of my neck stand up. I think Blake said something about that too." Jaune nodded, relieved that she understood.

"Well, all we have to do to go to whatever's doing that and turn it off. And then... maybe everyone'll be alright?" Jaune held out his hands helplessly. It wasn't like there was anything else he could've done. Yang shook her head, biting her lower lip.

"This... seems like kind of a risky plan. And that's coming from me." Yang gestured around them. "I mean, we're not even sure there's something that's really _doing_ all of this. Or what if stopping it won't stop the others from attacking us?"

Jaune knew that this was a far-fetched plan. But dammit, it was the only thing Jaune could think of, and if they didn't do anything, their friends would end up killing them. And Dust knows what'll happen to their friends and teammates after that's happened.

"Well do you have anything better to suggest?" Jaune couldn't help but let his frustration slip out, hands curling tightly into fists. Yang sighed, shaking her head and crossing her arms.

"No. But that doesn't mean I like it."

"It doesn't matter if you like it or not," Jaune retorted. "We just have to do it. After all, there's nothing else we could possibly do, right?" Yang gave a reluctant nod and sighed in resignation, one of her hands moving away her bangs.

"Alright then. Let's do this."

###

Trying to find the center of the 'malaise' was more difficult than they thought it would be. Not even accounting for the fact that they had to keep a low profile, making sure not to bump into any of the ghosts or their brainwashed friends, they simply had trouble locating where the center of the energy was coming from in the first place. 'Feeling' wasn't really a good compass to go by, and a lot of times, Yang and Jaune would claim that they were getting closer, only for Vedrahgol to say that they were only at the edge of the malaise.

It was aggravating, to say the least.

It took most of the night, with a lot of busting through housese to hide from patrols and hopping onto roofs to check their position, but they continued in the general direction, knowing that they were getting closer as their stomachs started to hollow out, sweat forming on their palms.

"Do you think we're getting close?"

Jaune nearly jumped out of his skin when Yang decided to whisper, his heart beating loudly inside of his chest. He whipped around, giving her a glare as he did so. Yang just blinked at him, looking a little fearful.

"Sorry." She said meekly, making Jaune pause. Yang wasn't the type of person to apologize for something like that. And she _never_ did anything meekly.

"I think we're getting pretty close." Jaune's voice sounded different. A little hoarser, and the way it echoed off the alleyway made the both of them wince and look around, hoping that no one was close enough to hear it traveling. They looked at each other, expressions solemn as they continued to move closer to the eerie feeling. As they got closer, they started to hear a faint whirring, which helped them out tremendously in finding what was causing all of this.

They walked out of their alleyway and into a clearing, meant to be a park of some kind, except every plant there was dying or dead, and the pond in the center was more of a swamp than anything.

"I don't know about you, but I'm guessing _that's_ what's the problem." Yang pointed at the center of the pond, where a large staff stood atop, the decorated horned skull pulsing in a gentle purple light. Just looking at the staff made Jaune's mind scream, and Vedrahgol hunker down, his growling seeming to vibrate Jaune's skull. Taking a glance at Yang, he could see that she was similarly affected, her knuckles completely white and her body shivering, her eyes wide and unfocused.

"Yang?" Jaune whispered, an uneasy feeling settling in his stomach. The girl's eyelids fluttered briefly before she shook her head, wincing in pain.

"Sorry. It's just…" Yang shook her head again, looking fearfully at the staff. "Whatever that is, it's dangerous. Like, my body doesn't want to get close to it dangerous."

Jaune pursed his lips, nodding. He could see that this was the last place that Yang wanted to be, and had a feeling that if they had to get any closer, Yang wouldn't be able to help as much as Jaune would like, or need.

"You stay here." Jaune said, continuing over the protests that Yang started to give. "I need someone to be on the lookout anyways. I'd rather not get ambushed right? Besides, if worse comes to worse, I've got a few tricks up my sleeve to get out of the mess." Jaune grinned reassuringly, which helped somewhat with Yang, whose shoulders lowered slightly, although her worried expression didn't really go away.

"Be careful." Yang finally said, which Jaune took as a go ahead. The boy promised to do so and walked towards the pond, eyes darting back and forth, making sure that no one was going to sneak up on him.

Getting closer to the body of water didn't help clear away any fears, as the pond seemed so dark and muddy that getting closer seemed to make the waters darker. Jaune took a deep breath and prayed that his aura would protect him if the water was toxic, and started strip off his armor, pulling his shirt off and dropping away his boots and socks. The less that gets wet, the better, Jaune gathered, and placed the bundle of clothing on top of his shield, knowing that it would just be dead weight in the water. He held Crocea Mors by the blade and started to walk in, desperately ignoring how disgusting it felt when he entered the slimy liquid. The chill didn't help either, Jaune already starting to shiver, motivating him to move a little faster.

The murkiness of the pond betrayed it's depth, which was to say there wasn't much of it. Jaune was almost halfway to the staff and the water had only gone up to his waist, which he was thankful for. He still tried to move as fast as possible, as being in Atlas without a shirt on was already enough to warrant frostbite, let alone getting into freezing water while you were shirtless.

Every step that Jaune took made the hair on the back of his neck rise higher and higher. There was something more to this. There had to be. There's no way that the lynchpin would be so lightly guarded. There had to be something else here. There had to be.

And there was.

When Jaune felt the water around him move, his initial feeling was relief actually, glad that his paranoia was paying off. Then it quickly grew into fear as a head rose from the depths, yellow eyes opening to look at Jaune. The mouth widened and revealed rows of sharp teeth, and a black tongue to go with it.

A dragon. Why was Jaune not surprised?

The dov roared, making waves in the water and causing Jaune to stumble backwards, almost losing his balance and falling into the freezing water. In a panic Jaune reversed the grip on his sword and used it as a makeshift cane, keeping himself upright just long enough to focus on a third of a shout, letting loose a single word.

"Wuld!"

The weak shout propelled him a maybe two or three yards towards the shore. Not much, but enough to get away from the rising dragon, its shoulders coming out of the water, it's eyes enraged.

" **Fo Krah Diin!** " The dragon's breath turned the air into a cold mist, streaming outwards and hitting Jaune, who couldn't do much in the water but take the brunt of the icy breath. The power was incredible, the cold taking his breath away. It didn't freeze him into a block of ice, but it's effect was pretty much to same, Jaune's muscles locking up, his brain whiting out as his body simply tried to keep himself warm enough to move.

But he couldn't. No matter what his brain was trying to say, the only thing Jaune could do was fall to his knees, his body almost submerged in the water. Breathing was painful at this point, and at the moment, all Jaune wanted to do was let the dragon kill him. At least that would be less painful than what he was experiencing now.

The black-scaled dragon moved ever closer, it's breath letting out gusts of mist every time it breathed out. Oh Dust. Jaune was really going to die. Vedrahgol was bouncing around in his mind, trying to find a way to mobilize him as well, try to take him over, but his mind resisted, even while it was fading.

The pond dragon reared up, mouth open, ready to consume the boy that dared try and trespass into her pond.

"Get away from him you bitch!"

A shotgun blast echoed and the dragon reared back, roaring in pain. Jaune's eyes slowly looked over as he found Yang entering the pond, red, flaming, and angry.

He'd never seen a more beautiful sight, Jaune thought before he blacked out.


	36. Unintentional

**A/N: :) Enjoy!**

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As consciousness reasserted itself in Jaune, he slowly became aware of the surroundings around him. First was the sound, which was pretty much a lot of screaming, inhuman and otherwise. He could hear fists hitting scales, shotgun blasts, and blasts rippling through the air, something that helped his brain process that this was the last place he should be taking a nap in. Eyes opened and vision came next, revealing the dark sky, which was becoming lighter and lighter as dawn approached. Clouds drifted by lazily, unaffected by the destruction below, different always, but somehow never changing. Jaune saw one that slightly resembled a hand, like the sky was waving at him, urging him to wave back. He almost did too, briefly forgetting about why he was lying on the ground, his pain disappearing.

His sense of smell came soon after, filling him with smells of burning, and lots of it. His body and sense of touch, strangely, came last. He felt the grass that he was underneath, the loose patches of soil and stone digging into parts of his body that he preferred them not to dig into. Then came the ever present pain. His throat was on fire, his chest was on fire, his legs... were _really_ cold, and he had bruises on him that would remind him to walk gingerly for the next few days.

It was _not_ a good feeling to wake up to, that was for sure.

His head swam as he pulled himself up to a sitting position, wincing as he clutched his head. It took another second for Jaune to focus his eyes enough to see the landscape around him, finding the battle between Yang and the dragon.

Both of them were bloodied up, scratches and cuts all over the two of them, Yang where the dragon's claws grazed her, and the dragon where Yang's shotgun blasts hit her. There wasn't any finesse to the fight, as the two of them slugged it out their own way, a back and forth to see which one of them landed out on top. The two of them seemed to be locked in a stalemate, unsure of what the other would do, and if it would put them down or not.

Jaune decided it was time to put the odds back in Yang's favor, standing up and stepping forwards, making the dragon and Yang turn and look at him. The blonde girl grinned, happy to see her boyfriend still standing.

"You finished with your little nap yet?" She asked teasingly, not looking at all like she was just in a tussle with an oversized lizard. Jaune shrugged, a small smile on his face.

"Well, you guys are a little too loud for me to keep sleeping so… I was hoping that I could help you take care of business before I took another nap. Y'know, if you need it." Jaune said casually, eyes roaming to find his sword, which was probably under the pond somewhere.

The dragon growled, creating ripples along the water, before unleashing a stream of ice towards Yang, who flared up to protect herself, water boiling around her, the heat protecting her from the unbelievable cold. As the gust died down, Yang stood wearily, but unfrozen, eyes glaring tiredly, at the dragon. She definitely needed a hand, Jaune thought quietly, before turning and blasting a shout out towards the dragon, freezing the water around her, turning the tables. It didn't take long for the dragon to break the ice around her, but it was enough of an opportunity for Yang to pounce and land on the dragon, blasting another shell into her hide. Wings spread out reflexively, knocking Yang off and into the water as the dragon took off high into the sky, teeth bared in anger.

Landing on one of the nearby buildings, the dragon unleashed another blast of cold wind, this time towards Jaune. Learning from his previous mistakes, instead of facing the blast head-on, Jaune dove underneath the freezing water, concluding that at least the water would be consistently cold, and being in it would be better than facing the subzero temperatures of the shout. Jaune counted down mentally before surfacing again, sure that the shout had subsided, and strode back on dry land, closing his eyes and ignoring the cold, casting Whirlwind Sprint on himself, speeding towards the dragon faster than the creature could keep track of.

Getting close made sure that Jaune didn't miss his next shout, and he let loose a stream of fire, roasting the scales closest to him. The dark-scaled dragon roared in pain, taking off into the sky again.

The dragon flew to the south of them, fading behind the buildings, and silence took back over. She had retreated, something that Jaune was grateful for, happily seizing the opportunity to recover and see if Yang was too winded.

She wasn't, as the blonde hair rose out of the water, streams of the muck leaving her hair. In her hand she held Jaune's sword and shield, something she was able to recover while under the freezing water. There wasn't any more energy for Yang to really warm herself, and Jaune ran over to help her, ignoring the freezing cold and aiding her journey back to the shore.

"Ugh. That was… not fun." Yang's teeth started to chatter, the cold settling into her bones, her body shaking violently. Jaune grinned, shaking his head.

"No," He agreed hoarsely, "No I didn't think that was fun either."

"Good." Yang moaned, turning on her side and flaring up one more time, just to ignite a bit of grass, collapsing once she finished. "Wouldn't want to be dating someone crazy enough to think that was fun." Jaune laughed, more in relief than to Yang's joke, and shook his head.

"What, don't you like spontaneity?"

"Yeah, not when that means fighting dragons in freezing water."

Jaune chuckled and stood up, causing Yang to prop up her head in question. The boy looked at the center of the pond, where the staff still hovered undisturbed.

"We still need to take that down, whatever it is." Jaune said quietly. Yang frowned, eyes critical.

"I dunno. Going back into that water's the last thing I would want to do." Yang said skeptically, something that Jaune agreed with wholeheartedly.

"Yeah, but if we want to free our friends, someone's gotta do it." Jaune took a deep breath before starting to walk towards the shore once again, hoping, praying to anyone listening that there wasn't another dragon just lying in wait for them to step into the water again. "I think I've got an idea." He muttered, before closing his eyes and summoning enough energy for one more big shout, assuming that he wouldn't be able to use his vocal cords for a good few minutes if he was going to do something like this.

Then quietly, in contrast to his usual shouting, Jaune chanted one word over and over again, a small trail of water vapor escaping his mouth. The tail of vapor moved organically, like a twisting snake, before falling and touching the pond water. At first nothing happened, until there was audible noise, like ice cracking, and water boiling at the same time. Opening his eyes, Jaune smiled, even though his throat seemed to want to murder him.

All of the water was frozen solid, giving him a platform to walk towards the staff.

 _ **Very clever of you**_ **.** Vedrahgol actually sounded impressed, and a little proud of Jaune for thinking up something like that. Jaune didn't respond though, instead testing the strength of the ice, a tentative boot touching the ice, and when it didn't crack threateningly, Jaune started to put more and more weight underneath, until he was confident enough to add another foot, then start walking to the middle of the pond.

 _Crack!_

Jaune tensed up on hearing the sound, but whirled around as his mind pointed out to him that the sound wasn't of ice breaking. For a second he couldn't find what he was looking for, until he saw a gleam of the breaking dawn's sunlight against what Jaune assumed to be Crescent Rose's scope, another shot ringing out right after, smacking into the iced water, creating a large spider-web of cracks.

"Oh that's not good." Jaune said, panicked as he turned and picked up his pace towards the staff, hand gripped tightly on Crocea Mors. He stopped moving again as red and black hair pulled through out of the mist, revealing the forms of Pyrrha and Blake, staring at him with intent purple eyes. "Oh, that's definitely not good." Jaune said, deploying his shield and ducking behind it just in time for a ring of bullet fire to hit on the shield, the two girls advancing towards him.

A shotgun blast tore through the ground in front of them, making them stop in their tracks, looking to find the origin of the shot. Yang stepped up beside Jaune, cocking her gauntlets menacingly.

"I wouldn't want to do that if I were you." Yang said, smirking at the two of them.

"Yang, what're you doing?" Jaune asked nervously, eyes tracing the scene in front of him.

"Helping you out, what do you think I'm doing?" She replied back easily, cocking an inquisitive eyebrow at him.

"By shooting the ice that we're standing on?" The question was urgent, his boots shifting nervously as the sound of cracking continued. Yang looked down, surveying the damage around them.

"…oh."

The nervous boy made an impatient noise and shook his head, tilting his head towards the staff that lay between the four of them. "We need to destroy that thing."

"Gotcha. You can take care of it." Yang said, before charging in towards the other two.

"Wait, what're you—ugh." Jaune took off alongside her, spurring the Pyrrha and Blake to run towards them as well, weapons brandished. Another shot rang off behind them, more cracks appearing on the ice.

Jaune decided as they got closer to the staff to fall onto the ice floor, sliding the rest of the way towards the staff, kicking Pyrrha's legs as he did so, making her tumble, only her quick reflexes fast enough to save her, a boot slamming into the ice. Unfortunately, the force was enough for the ice to give way, and she fell into the water, the ice hole quickly expanding to try and consume everyone else on the ice. Jaune simply allowed himself to keep sliding out of harm's way, before hearing another sniper shot ring out, this time slamming into the staff, ripping it out of his hands and letting it fly through the air, where it fell into a waiting Ren's hands, eye glowing at the sliding Jaune.

"Well shi-" The blonde didn't have enough time for anything else but to roll to the side as a gun appeared in Ren's hand, bullets flying and eating through the ice. Jaune struggled to stand up, putting the shield in front of him and charging, only for a grenade to appear in front of his face, his reflexed saving him from death, but still allowing for him to get blown backwards, his body twirling in the air.

Nora dropped beside Ren, grinning almost sadistically at her leader, before Magnhild shot off another few grenades, causing Jaune to scramble back onto his feet and take off, not wanting anything to do with the high explosives she was letting loose.

 _ **We must destroy the staff now, before your humans destroy you**_. Vedrahgol said gravely. Jaune rolled his eyes.

 _Gee, if only I realized that sooner. Anything else you could tell me? Maybe that I shouldn't get hit by one of Nora's nades? Shouldn't plunge headfirst into the ice water?_

 _ **Actually, I was thinking that maybe you could disarm them and then destroy the staff with your sword.**_

 _And I'm going to do that how?_

 _ **With the shout.**_

The blonde boy paused, blinking quickly. _There's a shout for that?_ He asked, incredulous.

 _ **Of course there is. Let me show you.**_

The memories were fast and sloppy, the transfer vague, but clear enough that Jaune knew what he had to do.

Jaune was pretty sure his throat was recovered enough to cast the shout and closed his eyes, summoning the essence for the shout and letting loose.

"Zun Haal Viik!" The blast ripped Ren and Nora's weapons out of their hands, the staff tumbling away along with them, and also staggering the two of them. Knowing that now was his chance, Jaune sprinted towards the two of them, slamming Nora with his shield and striking Ren across the face with his pommel, before kneeling down and slamming Crocea Mors down onto the staff, making the thing hum and glow bright red before exploding, sending Jaune flying backwards.

Refusing to black out again, Jaune pulled himself upwards, head spinning as Nora and Ren's eyes slowly faded back to their natural colors, the two of them turning to look at Jaune.

"Jaune?" The two of them asked, confused about what was happening. Jaune just gave a weak smile, ignoring the sound of yelping from the pond, as well as two yelps as all of the ice on the pond cracked.

"Welcome back guys." Jaune said. Or he should've said when he opened his mouth. Instead there was no sound, making Ren and Nora frown, as well as confusing Jaune.

"Are you alright there Jaune?" Ren asked in concern, approaching closer. Jaune nodded.

"Yeah I'm fine." He should've answered. Again though, there was no sound. He paused, and tried to say something else. Still no sound. He tried screaming, and he tried whispering and found that he still heard no sound.

"Oh. Well that might be a problem." Nora commented, scratching her head.


	37. Planning Ahead

**A/N: Let me know what y'all think. Enjoy :)**

* * *

Yang glanced over at her mute boyfriend in concern, unconsciously taking a few steps towards him, her hand reaching out to grab his. Noticing the movement, Jaune turned and smiled comfortingly at her, trying to convey that he was alright, and that she didn't have to worry about him. Without saying anything, Yang raised a doubtful eyebrow, not believing for a second that he was alright. He had just lost his voice and with it, his semblance! How could he be okay?

Nevertheless, Jaune shook his head again, gesturing vaguely in the air.

"Unless you know sign language Jaune, waving your hands in the air isn't going to accomplish anything." Nora said in amusement, tilting her head back and forth. Jaune snorted before gesturing again, this time actually making specific shapes and figures with his palms and fingers.

"Wait a second. You actually know sign language?" Weiss arched an eyebrow in disbelief. Jaune nodded, a grin splitting his face. "How? Why?"

The boy shrugged and made another gesture, lowering his hand and patting the air.

"A kid? You learned it as a kid?" Pyrrha asked, playing along with Jaune's forced charades. The blonde knight nodded, flashing a few fingers at the rest of the group.

"As unbelievable as that is," Weiss interrupted, frustration creeping into her voice. "I doubt anyone here knows sign language, so it's best if you stop for the time being." With a frown, Jaune reluctantly lowered his arms, letting out a sad sigh. Yang stepped a little closer and wrapped an arm around Jaune's neck, grinning at him.

"Cheer up Jaune! I'm sure everything'll be fine. You'll probably be able to talk again soon enough."

The boy snorted and gave a tiny smile, nodding.

"Well. Now that everything has settled down, I think we should get some rest." Professor Goodwitch said as she crossed her arms, nodding at the group.

After the spell over all of his friends and the Professor had been broken, they rushed over to make sure that Yang and Jaune were all right, before setting off into one of the nearby houses, setting something up for the night. As much as the unit wanted to leave the haunted city, there was still a dragon in their way, and if they just slipped past it, the United Army would end up in dire straits when they arrived at Neige.

So they rested, except for the fact that every one of them were unbelievably tense, absolutely on edge after being brainwashed and forced to fight their friends. They were finally getting to the point where they were so used to getting surprised by something that none of them even bothered relaxing.

But there was still running water, and some rations laying around in the house, which allowed them to refill their reserves and get themselves clean, something that hadn't happened in a while. They all made sure that they took short, warm showers, making sure that none of them used up all of the hot water. Even Yang with her obsession with clean hair only took a five minute shower, using most of that time to clean the hair as thoroughly as she could.

Now that everyone was clean, full, and semi-comfortable, they all sat around, too wound up for anyone to go to bed at the moment. No one really spoke much though, even Nora staying silent as she blinked owlishly at everyone, waiting for the ice to crack.

Now that they had seemed to venture through the uncomfortable air, the silence broke, everyone chattering quietly with each other, shoulders dropping slightly.

Yang was a big part of getting everyone a little loose, making sure to talk a little bit with everyone, even Team CDNL. Of course, after she finished a conversation, she took a bit of time to make sure that Jaune was alright. She did that by casually teasing him, jostling his shoulder and finding ways to make him roll his eyes. After all, an annoyed Jaune was an alright Jaune.

"So." Cardin spoke up loudly, cutting off everyone's conversation midway. "What're we gonna do about the dragon?"

No one said a word, but some of them couldn't help but turn to Jaune before catching themselves, looking away in embarrassment. Cardin called them out for it though, actually looking at Jaune and nodding at him.

"Even if you've lost your voice Jaune, you _are_ our leader. Can you think of anything to do?"

The blonde boy looked at Cardin steadily, blinking slowly, a frown noticeable on his face. Yang felt a surge of protectiveness, placing a hand on Jaune's shoulder, stepping up to protect him.

"He doesn't have anything he needs to tell you Cardin. As you can see, he still needs to recover." She said, almost growling at him. The orange-haired boy backed off, hands in the air.

"I'm not saying it to be mean Yang." Cardin said defensively. "But we _are_ going to be fighting a huge Grimm tomorrow, and the only one who's really had any success is your boyfriend over there." The boy pointed at Jaune. "And most of that was with his semblance, which he doesn't have right now."

Yang almost seemed to surge forward to bite off the boy's head before Jaune turned her grip on his shoulder around, his hand on top of hers. Stopping, she turned to look at the boy she was protecting, who shook his head quickly. A little force on her own hand made her sit down. He didn't force her of course, Yang would've been able to out muscle him any time of the day.

Jaune looked carefully at his girlfriend, an expression on his face that made her calm down a little. There was something that he wanted to say, and Yang would be a terrible girlfriend if she didn't let him have his say. A smile spread across the boy's face, understanding that Yang was going to restrain herself, and turned to the crowd, gesturing with his hands that he would have liked something to write on.

The room shuffled around, going through the house to find a pen and paper. It took a few minutes, but Weiss was able to procure the necessary items, placing them neatly onto the table that Jaune was sitting at. He smiled and nodded at her in thanks, before gripping the pen and scribbling something on the paper before handing it to Yang, who took a look at what was written. Raising an eyebrow, she turned to Jaune, who kept his smile on his face, waving his hands at her to read it aloud.

"I think… you guys are stupid—ow!" Yang winced when Jaune jabbed her with his elbow, a stern look on his face. "Alright, alright, I'll read it." Yang squinted, straightening the paper out before reading it slowly.

"I know that we don't have my semblance anymore. But I don't think we'll need it. We've got thirteen people, and we're only going to be fighting the dragon. Also, we've got something that we've never had before. Information. Me and Yang—Sorry, Yang and I," She corrected herself as Weiss cleared her throat, "Yang and I fought him already, and we'll know how to fight against her." Yang lowered the sheet and looked at the group crowding around them, trying to gauge the reactions.

"The dragon's a girl?"

Ruby was the first one to speak, eyes wide in surprise. "I didn't even realize dragon's _had_ genders. How do you… uh, tell?" She asked meekly, looking at Jaune. The boy blinked quickly as her and blushed a little, scribbling something else on another piece of paper. Yang didn't pick it up, simply peering over his shoulder to see what he had written down.

"It's… complicated?" Yang shook her head, a smile breaking out on her face. "Honestly Ruby, I thought you would've figured that kind of thing out at your age." Her little sister blushed furiously, squeaking indignantly as she covered her face with her hands. Jaune scribbled something else on the page, pointing towards it for Yang to look at. She rolled her eyes at the text. "Relax Jaune, they know you didn't write that. Sheesh, loosen up." Jaune threw up his hands, shaking his head mournfully as Yang giggled at him.

"Alright, alright." Cardin interrupted once again, to Yang's annoyance. "So maybe we should make some sort of a plan?"

"Right now?" Yang snorted, crossing her arms. "What, you gonna be late for something? Trying to set up a good time to go to sleep or something?" He frowned at the blatant antagonism and shook his head, crossing his own arms as he did so.

"Maybe it would be a good idea for everyone to get some rest for tomorrow. And the earlier we get some semblance of a plan, the earlier we can get ourselves to full power. Which I'd like to have when we're fighting a huge _dragon_."

"Mr. Winchester makes a good idea Miss Xiao-Long." Professor Goodwitch said, stepping forward to the boy's defense. Yang grit her teeth, almost lashing out at the teacher as well before Jaune tugged on her shirt again, drawing her attention towards something else that he wrote.

"Cardin's right—what do you mean he's right?" Yang gaped at Jaune, slightly betrayed that he would take Cardin's side. Jaune pointed at her and wrote something else, something that she read but didn't say. _You know he's right._

Yang drew in a sharp breath and sighed, a hand on wiping her face.

"Fine." She relented, waving a hand. "What do you guys suggest?" The whole team looked around, before Ren stepped up.

"Well, since you two were the ones that fought against the beast, I thought maybe you would have something for us to start with?"

Yang opened her mouth before closing it again, not knowing what to say. An uncertain look crossed her face before she looked at Jaune, her sheepish expression obvious.

"You, uh, you got anything there?"

Jaune looked at her with an amused expression, shaking his head as he twirled the pen in his hand, a grim smile on his face.


	38. For Once, A Good Thing

**A/N: More Action! YAY! Hope y'all enjoy :)**

* * *

"This is a terrible plan." Yang said slowly. Jaune raised an eyebrow, crossing his arms.

 _I feel like she says that every time I have a plan._ Jaune thought to himself, hearing Vedrahgol snort.

 _ **That's because every plan you have**_ **is** _ **terrible**_ **.**

 _Hey!_

Jaune frowned and shook his head, patting Yang's shoulder gently, hoping that she would understand that he was trying to comfort her. It didn't work very well, seeing as how the blonde girl ignored him, clutching her head.

"I can't believe I agreed to this." She muttered nervously. "We're going to be _bait_. For a freaking dragon that's ten times our size. Oh Dust, what if she doesn't even land and just grabs one of us? Can dragon's even do that?" The last question was directed towards Jaune, who held out a calming hand, trying to stop her from rambling like her little sister.

 _ **Well, krienmon isn't wrong.**_ Vedrahgol said idly. _**This could easily fail just as spectacularly as work. Actually, it probably had**_ **more** _ **of a chance at failing.**_

 _Vedrahgol… please shut up._

The dragon actually quieted down, letting Jaune focus his thoughts, breathing in and out slowly, trying to get the nervousness out of his system. When he opened his eyes, he double checked everyone's position, making sure that they would be able to act as efficiently as possible for the first hit.

The blonde couple continued to stride forward in the open and empty city, walking hand in hand, hoping that the dragon wouldn't kill them in one strike.

They wandered like this for hours, their friends spread out and trailing around them, taking care not to get caught. There were no more words being exchanged, only tense silence, waiting for something, anything to happen. Even Yang and Jaune didn't say much, although they were supposed to, if only to attract the dragon's attention. That didn't mean they didn't try, of course. It just meant that every conversation they had was stilted and awkward, ending prematurely at times, and going on for too long at other times. It didn't help that Jaune could only reply using his hands and body language, making for an awkward conversation partner.

It was torture.

A flap of wings brought the two's attention towards a nearby tree, gauntlets deploying, a sword sliding out within a blink of the eye. The pair stood there tensely, watching as a bird chirped merrily along its way to who knows where, unaware that there were two Hunters that had almost killed it because it decided to fly away.

Yang and Jaune turned to each other and couldn't help but crack a smile, knowing how tense they were. Lowering their weapons, they let themselves unwind just a little bit, and conversation started to flow a little smoother, Yang getting back into her usual peppy mood, as well as understanding some of Jaune's vague gestures a little better.

When they finally heard the slow flap of leathery wings, the two of them were ready. The breeze that seemed almost constant in Niege grew stronger as the dragon approached. When they saw her, it was like they were standing in a wind tunnel, their hairs flying wildly all over the place, any loose clothing flapping around as well. The dragon hovered over them, observing them for before opening her mouth, speaking.

" **Leave. Now.** " The words chilled Jaune to the bone, but he held his ground, crossing his arms stubbornly. Of course, being mute meant that he didn't have a snappy comeback, but he was confident that Yang had it covered.

"How about _you_ leave?" Yang hollered, hoping to be heard over the wind. "That way, we won't have to beat your ass!"

The dragon stayed in the air for a second, before lowering herself slowly, feet still crashing to the ground.

" **So be it**."

And the dragon opened her mouth to shout, before a loud crack echoed through the air, and blood spurted from where one of the dragon's eyes were. She reared back, roaring in pain, the willpower gathered up to shout at the two humans in front of her forgotten. It didn't stop there, as Cardin appeared, flung forwards by Weiss and Blake, screaming a high-pitched battle cry, smashing his mace across the dragon's snout, an explosion rocking the dragon to the side. The distinct sound of grenades popping out of a launcher made contact on the dragon's leathery wings, tearing holes in them, preventing her from escaping the death pit that she had landed into.

In less than half a minute, the ferocious dragon had been reduced to a half blind, injured lizard, unable to escape the closing trap, only able to watch as thirteen angry humans threw everything they had towards her.

" **Dishonorable."** The dragon spat at the approaching Jaune, who held Crocea Mors loftily in his hand. Jaune smirked and bowed deeply, taking the word as a compliment.

Winning was winning in the face of war.

Without much flare, Jaune plunged his sword through the dragon's skull, renting an unearthly screech from the dragon, before it collapsed unceremoniously onto the ground, already flaking and glowing for Jaune to take in.

There wasn't much ceremony in his process of absorbing the soul, everyone having witnessed it a few times already, even Jaune not reacting too much to it. The process hadn't even finished when he started to move, rolling his shoulders and sighing audibly, relieved that some of the pain and tension had melted away from that part of his body.

It was replaced with a newer pain when Yang slapped him in between the shoulders, making him yelp and turn to her, glare on his face. She ignored it readily, grinning at him. The rest of the unit had also made their way towards him, smiling just as widely.

"That one was… way easier than all of them combined. Wait a second, that doesn't make any sense." Yang furrowed her brow, before shrugging. "Ah whatever. What matters… is that was easy!"

The blonde rolled his eyes, hand clapping his girlfriend's shoulder. "Don't jinx it."

All of them froze at the sound of Jaune's voice. Jaune's hand went up to touch his throat, eyes widening.

 _ **It seems that the traditional 'absorb a Dov's power and gain strength' also healed your throat up somewhat.**_ Vedrahgol commented idly. _**Interesting.**_

"Things are looking up, huh?" Jaune croaked out, a wide smile plastered on his face. His voice sounded scratchy and rough, as if he had been at a loud concert for several hours, screaming at the top of his lungs. It was evident to him that just this amount of words was enough to wear them out though, the blonde bending over and coughing, throat burning.

As the group scrambled to find something for Jaune to drink, Yang kept a tight grip on him, a soft smile on her face.

His voice was back, and that was all that mattered.

* * *

"Finally."

Imaar stood up from a patch of damp ground, dead and dying Grimm disintegrating around him. Picking up a large golden scroll from out of the hole, the dragon priest held the object reverently, stroking it softly.

Cinder stood beside him, eyes intense as she examined the object that Imaar had pulled from the ground, trying to discern its purpose. She had heard rumors of something resembling this a while back, but didn't know exactly what it did, only that it was powerful, and dangerous. She had tried to find it a few months back, something to consolidate her power, but could never find it until she told Imaar about it, pointing in the general directions of where the rumors pointed it out to be lying.

It took less than a week for Imaar to navigate through the Grimmlands and find it, felling any Grimm that weren't already under his control with contemptuous ease. Like some sort of sixth sense, he had honed in to where the scroll lay, and now they stood here in the middle of nowhere, for something Cinder didn't even know about.

That was not a feeling she much liked.

"So you have your scroll," Cinder said, stepping forwards. "What happens now?"

The man didn't answer for a moment, all of his attention still focused on the artifact that he had in his hands. She wasn't sure if it was just the wind or not, but she thought she heard him whisper words to it as well, which sent something unpleasant into her stomach.

"What happens now," He said, finally answering Cinder's question. "Is we finish taking over this paltry world of yours. Then I move onto mine, and make the world _truly_ mine. And with an Elder Scroll, nothing will stop me. _Nothing_."

The way he spoke to the scroll only helped pique Cinder's curiosity even further, making her question Imaar. "What does the scroll even do that makes you want it so badly?"

The masked man turned, eyes glowing. "It gives you power." He answered simply. "More power than you could ever imagine, in ways you would never expect." He held out the scroll to her. "Feel free to examine it."

Cinder blinked at the man, not sure how to take the sudden generosity of the man. When he made no move to take it back, Cinder took it with her uncertain hands, tracing the scroll with her fingers, noting all of the subtle markings on it. This was power, if Imaar was right. And if there was anything that Cinder knew, it was power, and her instincts screamed at her, telling her that getting her hands on whatever was inside of this scroll would be the end of all her troubles.

"Do not open it." He said quietly, seriously. "It is dangerous to the reader, and not everyone can handle the power it bestows onto you."

Cinder grit her teeth in annoyance, still unused to being told what to do. And the gall of the man tell her that _she_ was unqualified for power? Ridiculous. Almost without hesitation, Cinder pulled the scroll out, intent on reading whatever was found there.

She didn't get very far, as light whiter than anything she had ever experienced surrounded her vision, an unbearable heat roasting across her eyes. She screamed in agony, bending over and falling to her knees, the Elder Scroll falling from her hands.

When the pain subsided, Cinder could hear Imaar's footsteps approach her, the rustling of his cloak indicating that he had knelt down to pick up the scroll, and whisper in her ear.

"For someone so brilliant, you are unbelievably stupid." The man chuckled, getting onto his feet. "It is fortunate that I still have some use for you, or I would leave you here in this forgotten wasteland. Now come, we must find the last dredges of resistance and snuff them out. Especially the dovahkiin in our midst. I hear he's become something of a nuisance." Imaar snapped his fingers, and a Beowulf lifted Cinder into the air, dropping her onto an Ursa's back.

As they marched back towards Atlas, Cinder came to two conclusions.

One, she had a feeling this blindness would be something permanent, or at least last too long for Cinder to simply wait it out and still hope to come out on top of Imaar.

And second, that any information is power, and while she had only been able to glean a few words off of the scroll, she was still able to learn from it, to understand, and to gain benefit from it.

Cinder had learned how to shout.


	39. Dreams

**A/N: Wow, I am behind. Busy af last week until Sunday, didn't have much time to write anything. Hopefully I'll be able to finish tomorrow's writing on time as well XP**

* * *

Somehow, after so many days of constant fighting and surviving by the skin of their teeth, a full day of _nothing_ made them more tense than ever.

The whole group walked in silence, no one saying a word as they all turned like they were on a swivel, waiting for something to pop out and try to kill them. Honestly, most of them would've welcomed it at this point rather than walk and wait for something to happen for hours on end. It made them restless and tired at the same time.

A rustle in one of bushes was violent enough to make some snow on one of the trees drop, making everyone turn and draw their weapons, ready for a fight. When it was revealed to be a single, lonely, and very confused Beowulf that died in one shot from Crescent Rose, none of them relaxed, waiting for the rest of the pack to bear down on them.

But no Grimm did.

So they stood there for minutes on end, waiting for an attack that would never come, sweat falling on their brow.

"...I have a feeling that was the only Beowulf." Ren said hesitantly, the first one to withdraw his weapons and walk around, double checking to make sure that he was right.

"Don't be silly Ren." Nora replied back. "Beowulves _always_ travel in packs. Everyone knows that."

"Well, that one didn't." Cardin muttered, sheathing his weapon as well.

Jaune looked around again, and opened his mouth, intent on using one of his shouts to make sure that everything was actually safe or not before being stopped by Vedrahgol. There wasn't a word exchanged in between the two of them, but the dragon actually forcibly took hold of his body and stopped the blond from speaking, immobilizing his vocal chords.

 _What was that for?_ Jaune asked irritably, rubbing his throat and trying to forget the weird feeling of all of his vocal chords tightening up for a brief second.

 _ **It would be most unwise for you to continue shouting so soon.**_ The old dragon replied back calmly. _**Doing it so soon may make your voice even weaker, or eliminate it completely.**_ He shook his head. _**And without the power of your shouts, facing anything like another Dov may be too much, even for all of you.**_

Jaune grit his teeth, but understood the dragon's caution. As much as he hated it, it would be a better idea to keep silent for the moment and conserve his voice, waiting for a better—and more dire—time to use it.

And so they continued onwards, jumping at every little sound and generally wearing themselves out to the point where they decided to make camp before the sun even came down, too weary to actually try and push on any further.

Everything and everyone seemed to be moving in slow motion, Jaune noted. The whole group moved with a lethargy that suffocated them, and they without any words exchanged amongst themselves, they all laid down to sleep.

Jaune had a difficult time doing so, lying on his back, facing the starry sky. Closing his eyes seemed to be just as difficult as keeping them open, the paradox of being tired by alert catching him. Hours seemed to pass by before Jaune was able to close his eyes and drift off to sleep, waking up in a field of white.

Snow was all around Jaune, falling softly down. Trees bigger than he'd ever seen stood in front of him, reaching high into the sky, the branches spreading out and leaves blending out into the background. It took him a second to realize that he wasn't in Atlas anymore, and started to look around for the ever present presence in his dreams.

"Hello?" Jaune called out, taking a step forward. "Hello? Demon, Dead-thing Gods? Is anyone here to give me advice or try to kill me? Hello?"

Surprisingly, there was no answer, only the howling wind that picked up as Jaune stood there, baffled at the dream that he was in at the moment.

Jaune jumped when he heard a crunch of snow, whirling around to find a hooded woman with a golden scroll attached to her back taking gentle steps towards him. Instead of tensing up like most normal people would have usually done, Jaune's shoulders fell a little, relieved that he had found whoever had contacted him.

"About time," Jaune drawled, taking a step forward. "Now which one are you, and what are you trying to get me to—" He was cut off when the woman ignored him and continued to walk straight through him, making him gasp at the strange feeling. Spinning around, Jaune's eyes grew wide as he touched his chest, wondering if the woman was a ghost.

Another set of boots disturbing the snow made Jaune turn again, finding someone else, dressed in menacing dark armor, the man's eyes shining. Not figuratively, as his eyes were actually shining.

The man walked over towards the woman, holding up a dark scrap of cloth.

"What do you think of this?" He asked. Jaune walked up to the two of them, eyes whipping back and forth at the two.

"...Can... you guys hear me?"

"It... certainly smells like him." The woman replied back, crinkling her nose. The man nodded, grinning a little.

"It does, doesn't it?" The man tossed the cloth to the side, sighing. "Unfortunately, the trail goes cold here. Were you able to catch anything?" The woman lowered her hood, revealing her short, dark hair as she shook her head.

"I can't sense him. It's as if he disappeared from Nirn altogether." Jaune gasped involuntarily when the woman turned to face him briefly, revealing glowing eyes, as if someone had stuck fiery coals into her eye sockets.

"If that's the case, then there's not many questions on how he disappeared." The man said seriously, nodding his head. The woman hummed thoughtfully, agreeing with the man.

"The big question here is why… and which Prince decided to do this?"

"I do not know." The man sheathed his sword, frowning as he spun around slowly to look at his surroundings. "All I know is that nothing good can come out of this. We need to find a way to track Imaar down soon, before he is able to take us by surprise."

"And how are we going to do that when we don't know where or even _when_ he is?" The woman said, crossing her arms. The man raised an eyebrow and pointed to the scroll on the woman's back. "…No way." The woman said, taking a step back. "That would be risky. And incredibly dangerous."

"Maybe." The man agreed, taking another step towards her. "But when have I really cared about what is dangerous and what is not?"

* * *

Jaune woke up to gentle shaking, blinking his eyes slowly as sunlight streamed through his eyelids, making him wince in pain. Looking up, he found Pyrrha with her hand on his shoulder, the Amazon the one trying to wake him up.

"It's morning Jaune." She said softly, before letting go. "It's time to continue on."

The boy nodded and sat up, rubbing his head and frowning, able to recall the dream that he had just had perfectly. It was strange, because usually he wouldn't be able to recall such detail just after waking up from a dream, the only times it happens when one of the 'Daedric Princes' were involved.

So which one had decided to send him to a dream and not say anything? He had gotten used to the Princes making demands and being overt about their gestures, but no matter how he thought about the dream, he couldn't make heads or tails about what whoever sent the dream was trying to tell him.

"Jaune?"

The blond looked up to find Pyrrha still standing awkwardly beside him, not exactly looking at him while she called his name.

"Yes?"

After he said the words, they both fell silent, neither of them speaking as Jaune waited for Pyrrha to say what or why she called out his name for.

"…I just… wanted to apologize." The red-head said haltingly. Jaune blinked, confused.

"For what?" Jaune couldn't think of a reason why the Amazon wanted to apologize, pretty sure that if anything, he would've needed to apologize to her. "If it's about the fact that you were trying to attack me, that's not really your fault. You got hypnotized or something by that crazy staff and—"

"I'm not apologizing for that." Pyrrha said quickly, cutting Jaune off. "I'm… I'm apologizing for… being… mad. At you. And Yang." Pyrrha's fingers jittered nervously as she spoke. "I—seeing what we had just gone through reminded me that… that we could die at any moment. And I don't want to be so… jealous and petty over your relationship."

Jaune's head spun at the admission, surprised and confused.

"I- Okay." Jaune held out his hands, trying to get the girl to slow down for a second. "First off, none of us are dying any time soon. Not on my watch. And second… you were jealous?" Jaune tilted his head. "Why?"

Pyrrha stared at him, her eyes showing emotions that Jaune couldn't really discern before she sighed, scratching her head.

"I'm not surprised you don't understand." She muttered. "It's not like _that_ much has changed with you."

"I like you, Jaune."

The boy looked at her, mouth slowly opening in surprise.

"What?"

"But it's a little too late for that now, isn't it?" Pyrrha smiled painfully, before turning around. "I just- I just wanted to let you know. Before anything happens to the two of us. I wouldn't want that to be my one regret." Pyrrha inhaled sharply, before turning around and letting her lips stretch across her face. "I hope this doesn't change anything between us Jaune. I'll see you later."

"Pyrrha wait—"

But it was too late, as the girl slipped away from him, loudly declaring that she was going to go wash up before they took to the roads.


	40. Tying Up Loose Ends

**A/N: Enjoy!**

* * *

As the group continued to travel along, Jaune was stuck in his haze, trying to figure out how to talk to someone who didn't want to talk to him.

Pyrrha was constantly finding ways to avoid him, darting in between other people, finding other things to do, and even going to the extreme lengths of chatting with Cardin for a little while when Jaune approached her. It was amazing how creative she was able to get trying to dodge him when they were on the move like this.

"Something happen between you and Pyr?"

Jaune turned to his girlfriend, who had an eyebrow raised at him. The boy turned to look at Pyrrha, who had been nodding intensely at whatever Nora was saying for the past minute, making sure not to turn and look back at him.

"Just… stuff." Jaune said awkwardly, not sure if he was really supposed to be talking about something like this to Yang. Now that he thought about it, what _were_ the rules to dating? Dust, what were the rules to dating a Huntress? Were there things that Yang expected Jaune to do for her? Were there things he wasn't supposed to do?

Now that he thought about it, the two of them haven't really changed much after they got together. Given, both of them have been really busy trying to save Remnant, but they haven't gone on a single date. Hell, they haven't even held hands yet!

Jaune felt as though he had skipped over some steps while getting together with the blonde beauty on his right.

"O…kay. Anything you want to talk to me about?" Yang's eyes gleamed, and a smirk appeared on her face. "I'll have you know that I'm quite the listener." Jaune turned to her, a frown on his face.

"Are we really… you know, together?" Jaune asked haltingly, not sure how to ask the question the right way. Yang blinked at him, tilting her head.

"I… always knew that you were a bit slow when it came to this kind of stuff, but I didn't realize you hadn't figured something like _that_ out."

"That's not what I meant." Jaune protested, flushing lightly. Yang carried on, ignoring the boy.

"I don't know how many girls make out with you on a daily basis, but that's kind of a sign that they're attracted to you." Yang shrugged, holding up a finger. "And the fact that you happily returned the kiss would mean that you're interested too, right?" Yang gave Jaune a questioning look, to which he flushed a little darker.

"I'm saying that's not what I-" Jaune was cut off by Yang turning her stare into a glower, not accepting anything but the answer to her question. "Yes." Jaune replied back wearily. "That's exactly what it means."

The blonde girl nodded. "Good. So, since we've _already_ talked about this, don't you think asking something like that is… kind of a blond move?" Jaune let out an explosive sigh, waving his hands in front of Yang's face.

"I'm _telling_ you, that's not what I meant." Jaune rubbed his forehead, closing his eyes briefly. "I _meant_ … we don't act much like we're… together. You know?"

"And how do couples act?"

"What?" Jaune raised his head, looking at the brawler.

"How do couples act?" Yang repeated, raising an eyebrow. "I didn't realize that they all acted the same, and that you had to follow through 'steps' to become a couple."

"You don't," Jaune said, hesitating briefly beforehand. That was exactly what he had been thinking a few moments before, even if it didn't sound as rigid as Yang had made it sound. "But—"

"How do you feel about me?" Yang asked bluntly, stopping Jaune in his tracks.

"I- I like you." Jaune said, his face cherry red at this point.

"I like you too." Yang stated flatly. "And I intend to chase this feeling down until we find something more… or find something less." The girl shrugged nonchalantly. "That's the only thing that really matters when it comes to whether or not we're 'together'. We don't have to be going on dates every other week, and you don't have to buy me flowers whenever it's a special day. Although that would be pretty awesome." Yang added as an afterthought.

Jaune stared at his girlfriend, mouth ajar a little, before impulsively he leaned over and pecked her on the lips, making her eyelids flutter for a second.

"What was that for?" Yang asked quietly, finally letting go of him.

"Just… a thank you." Jaune whispered back. Yang chuckled, brushing back her hair a little.

"Well, I hope that's not how you thank everybody."

"Only you." Jaune replied back quickly, before turning around to look at Pyrrha, determination rising. "I… need to talk to Pyrrha about something. I'll see you later." Jaune started to march off before he was grabbed by Yang, who spun him around and pecked him on the cheek.

"Good luck." She said, winking at him before slowing down her pace, turning to talk to her sister, who had the distinct look of disgust on her face, seeing Jaune and Yang's display.

Without anything else holding him up, Jaune strode up to Pyrrha, who was still nodding at Nora, who didn't seem to be losing steam in whatever she was telling the Amazon any time soon.

"-And whammo! That's when we drop the train on the dragon. Not a bad plan, right?" Nora's attention turned as she saw her team leader, her smile widening. "Jauney! How nice of you to spend time with your team!" Pyrrha spun around, panicked expression on her face as she saw the approaching blond.

"Actually, I think I need to go," Pyrrha said quickly, her feet already pacing her to another group. "I think I heard someone say my name."

"That's crazy Pyrrha. I didn't hear anything." Nora said helpfully, lunging to tackle the red-haired girl. Pyrrha slipped past, but slowed down just enough for Jaune to grab onto her wrist, stopping her from leaving.

"Actually Pyrrha, that was probably me." Jaune lied, making Nora clap her hands excitedly. "I have something that I'd like to talk to you about. Alone." Jaune pointed a not-so-subtle look at Nora, who 'oh''d loudly and gave an exaggerated wink, whistling to herself as she skipped towards Ren.

"…Couldn't this wait until later?" Pyrrha didn't look up, her bangs obscuring her face. "I'm sure it would be a good idea for us to conserve our talks for later, to focus on the upcoming battles."

"No." Jaune said firmly, keeping his grip on Pyrrha's wrist tight. Granted, the girl probably could've wrestled free with minimal effort, but she didn't, letting him keep a hold of her. "I want us to clear up some things before we fight. There might-" Jaune inhaled sharply, but forced himself to continue. "There might not be time later." That drew a sharp look from Pyrrha, who stopped struggling.

"That's not how you should be thinking, Jaune." Pyrrha said softly, eyes pained.

"It's the realistic way of thinking." The dragonborn replied, shaking his head. "Too many people have died for us to continue to say that everything's going to be alright. We're going to start fighting stronger and stronger… things. And one mistake could cost us. That's just what being a Huntsman is all about."

"But I don't want us to get into a fight without clearing the air first." Jaune said, looking pleadingly at her. Pyrrha looked back, the pained expression on her face not fading, but she still nodded, squeezing back.

"Okay. But we are getting out of this alive." Pyrrha looked back up, adamant. "I refuse to believe that we aren't."

"Okay." Jaune said simply, nodding. The girl nodded back, and waited to hear what Jaune wanted to say.

"I'm sorry," were the first words to come out of his mouth. "I'm sorry that I never realized you liked me that way." Jaune shook his head, sighing. "I'm not very… good with people. As you know." Jaune smiled weakly, Pyrrha returning it. "I have trouble with social queues sometimes, especially when it comes to stuff like… feelings." Jaune shrugged, not knowing what other gesture to make. "I don't know if it's because I was raised in a big family and they were the only ones that I interacted with, or if it's because I just… don't know how to do it." The blond squeezed Pyrrha's hand, swallowing thickly.

"I'm just sorry that I hurt you because of how… how ignorant I was to your feelings."

The girl looked down at the ground, her expression unreadable. For a second they didn't move, didn't speak as she took in Jaune's apology.

"Would it have made a difference?" Pyrrha's eyes peered out from under her bangs, strangely vulnerable. "If you knew about how I felt before… this. Would it have changed anything?" Jaune stared into her eyes, wondering that himself.

Would it have changed anything? Would he have chosen Pyrrha over Yang? Part of him wanted to say yes. But that part of him also wanted to say yes not because it was true.

But because it would spare Pyrrha a little more hurt.

And even then, Jaune wasn't sure if that would actually hurt her less than a no.

"…No." Jaune chose his answer, watching helplessly as Pyrrha closed her eyes and turned away from him, his grip loosening on her wrist enough that she was able to pry it free. A second passed before she turned back, a watery smile plastered onto her face.

"Thank you Jaune." She said. "For telling me the truth." Jaune nodded, the gratitude a little hallow to him, his mind refusing to accept her thanks when he was the one making her feel like this. "If you'll excuse me, I- I need a little bit of time to myself." The boy wasn't going to be the one to deprive her of some time alone, and he nodded, stepping back and letting her run to catch up to the party, Jaune waiting for a second before following at a much slower pace.

"That was a right mess." Jaune muttered to himself, feeling more tired than he had been for the past week.

 _ **I am glad that you were able to make that decision though, Maldovah.**_ Vedrahgol quipped, deciding to break the silence for a little while in order to comfort his host. _**It takes strength to confront something so unknown head on.**_

 _You ever had to do something like that before?_ Jaune asked almost rhetorically, not sure if he wanted to really know if Dov like Vedrahgol had or even cared about emotions like infatuation. The dragon scoffed, rolling his head.

 _ **Of course Maldovah. The females swarmed me, as I was the most magnificent Dov to be found in Nirn.**_

Jaune made an amused sound, shaking his head slightly. He made to reply before he felt the shake of the ground underneath him, so powerful that the trees around him started to shake as well.

 _What is that?_ Jaune wondered, turning around behind him to look.

 _ **I do not know.**_ Vedrahgol said gravely. _**It is a sound I am most unfamiliar with.**_

Rubbing his throat, Jaune gauged the strength of his vocal chords tentatively, deciding that it had settled enough for him to use at least one shout.

Murmuring the words, Jaune's field of vision lit up, detailing the life that was around him.

And towards the south, he found a field of dark spots, appearing out of nowhere, as if people were coming to life and springing through open air.


	41. Uncertainty

**A/N: Hope y'all enjoy :)**

* * *

"What is that?" Jaune said, not realizing in his amazement that he had said the words out loud. The rest of the unit had stopped, looking back and wondering why the blond knight had stopped walking. Ruby was the first one to arrive next to him, a concerned look on her face.

"Are you alright Jaune?" She asked, tugging on his sleeve. The boy turned to look at her, the area around her glowing a soft blue. He nodded distractedly, smiling a little before turning back to the scene in front of him, knowing that whatever he was seeing was _not_ a good thing.

By this point, everyone else had crowded around Jaune, watching him watch whatever it was that he was watching.

"What do you see, Jaune?" Blake asked quietly, ears flicking. Jaune had a feeling that she was hearing something that tugged on her nerves too, something that she couldn't fully place. He pointed into the trees, directing everyone's attention.

"I'm seeing a lot of... somethings," Jaune explained, shrugging helplessly as some of them looked at him doubtfully. "I don't know what they are, but they're all... dead. But not dead."

"That... doesn't even make any sense." Cardin said hesitantly, scratching his head. Jaune grit his teeth in frustration, knowing that Cardin was right.

"I know it sounds strange," Jaune said, combing his hair backwards. "But I'm seeing dead signatures moving with my- with my shout, and that's not even the craziest thing." Jaune held out his hands, gesturing vaguely while he was talking. "They're all appearing out of _nowhere_." He said, looking at them helplessly.

Most of the group had blank stares while he explained it to them, not sure what to think.

"That... does sound a little crazy," Professor Goodwitch was the first to speak, stepping up in front of him. "But it also sounds like something that we need to investigate. I don't think anyone had any objections about taking a slight detour?" The blonde woman turned to look at the unit, who all shook their heads, readying themselves. She turned back to the blond knight, and nodded at him. "Lead the way."

Without further ado, Jaune went out towards the mass of spawning undead, worry gnawing at his stomach the whole time. Getting there was a quiet affair, no one wanting to set off anything before they knew what they were up against.

Jaune's mind started to wander a little bit as they meandered towards the mass of aura, which is why Yang had to tackle him when a man appeared out of the trees, letting an arrow loose towards Jaune's throat.

The rest of the unit fell into positions and blasted the man back, making him screech as he lost balance and fell off the branch, planting his face into the ground.

There wasn't any time to rest though, as another, and another, and another popped out from the vegetation, wielding otherworldly swords and bows, ready to attack the group.

Then it fell into a blur, Jaune ducking and weaving right after he got off of the ground, fighting what looked like some very rugged humans for his life. There wasn't any time to think, Jaune falling back into a routine of fighting, something that he had developed after practically being in a constant zone of fighting since he received his semblance.

It was only when his blade met an opponent's neck, sending the head tumbling that Jaune's mind realized that he was actually fighting other human beings, and that he had just murdered someone.

The pause of horror was brief, but enough for the others to take advantage of the opening, one of the clubs striking him across the back of the head, making him wince and tumble. If it wasn't for his aura, Jaune probably would've been knocked out, and at the mercy of whoever these guys were.

 _Who_ are _these guys?_ Jaune thought furiously to himself, bashing one of them with his shield, before turning and cutting his sword low, the hesitation in his strike costing him when the man jumped back and threw his axe at Jaune, hitting him across the chest.

 _ **They are from my world, Maldovah.**_ Vedrahgol said quietly, looking at them. _**Do not hesitate to kill them, for on Nirn, they have been conditioned to kill or be killed.**_

 _I can't kill someone!_ Jaune protested, looking inwardly at the dragon. Sure, he had fought a ton, but none of them had been living, thinking human beings, which made Jaune sick to the stomch thinking that he had to take their lives.

 _ **Yes you can, now do so before they take your life!**_

The dragon's demand echoed in Jaune's mind, making him wince, the single thought wiping away his hesitation long enough to clear the doubt and allow him to pierce through another one's defense, sending his sword through the man's stomach.

Death was not a clean thing, Jaune noted, as he watched the man gurgle on his own blood, dropping unceremoniously after the blond withdrew his blade.

 _I—I can't do this_. Jaune thought, jumping back and holding up his shield, letting the men congregate into a crowd, ready to destroy the knight standing in front of them.

"Fus Ro Dah!" Jaune screamed, the power of the shout carrying the men off their feet, Jaune wincing every time one of them hit a tree or rock, hearing their bones breaking, their flesh slapping. It wasn't a quick and clean way of killing them, but it worked, everyone who was caught in the blast either dead or incapacitated due to their injuries.

The boy placed his hands on his knees, heaving a little, disgusted by what he had just done. _They had no aura_. Jaune thought to himself in disgust. _They were like civilians._

 _ **Except they were out to take your life, Maldovah.**_ The dragon was quick to comfort the boy, his voice soothing Jaune's tense shoulders. _**There wasn't anything more you could have done**_.

Jaune's internal anguish was interrupted as his hearing slowly filtered back in, remembering that he hadn't been the only one fighting these guys.

Some people in the group seemed to be having an easier time fighting the warriors off, as well as taking their lives. Blake hardly blinked as she peppered one of them with Gambol Shroud, before flipping around and driving the blade through another, her form in constant motion.

Others were just as reluctant as Jaune was, finding ways to nonlethally take them down. Ruby was the biggest one, using the end of Crimson Rose to fight off the men, and failing spectacularly in doing so, not used to having to fight that way.

Jaune took a deep breath, before jogging towards Ruby, knowing that if she kept that up, it wouldn't take too long for a stray arrow to puncture through her aura and severely hurt her or worse. Vedrahgol was right. There wasn't any time for hesitation when it came to his or his friends' lives.

The girl's movement was eye-blurringly fast, Ruby having been forced to use her semblance to keep herself unharmed, her reluctance to fight obvious whenever she fled backwards, instead of attacked forwards. She only stopped moving when she heard a metal clang behind her, turning to find Jaune ramming into one of the horned warriors with his shield, sending the man flying back. She brushed a stray lock of hair out of her mouth and smiled.

"Thanks Jaune." She whispered, getting a nod from Jaune before he started to move again, inhaling sharply as he cut through someone's buckler, cleaving the man in two quickly. Jaune made sure to move as fast as he could, moving from one person to another, constantly in a mode of fighting, so as to distract himself from the fact that he was killing people. Ruby watched him, biting her lip as she sighed, knowing that if she held back any longer, one of her friends could be seriously hurt.

With the weight of death temporarily lifted from their minds, the aura filled Huntsmen and Huntresses made quick work of the rag-tag bunch, all of them falling quickly beneath their weapons.

Jaune grinned shakily, hoping that it would cover up what he had just done, and looked at everyone else, trying to keep their spirits up.

"W-well. That wasn't so bad, was it?" Jaune asked, wincing a little at how loudly he had said the words. Some of them jerked up at the sound, blinking in surprise, Jaune having wrenched them from their thoughts.

"Psh." Yang was the first to speak, waving her hand carelessly, an easy grin on her face. "Easy."

Jaune thanked her mentally for helping him out.

"Well." Professor Goodwitch decided to step in, pushing her glasses up. She didn't look bothered at all, probably having seen and done something like this more times than Jaune could've imagined, a thought that didn't really sit well with him. "If that's all, I think we should continue moving-"

"That wasn't all." Jaune interrupted, bringing her to a stop. She turned to look at him, an eyebrow raised in question. "That wasn't what I saw." Jaune repeated, eyebrows drawn in. "What I saw was different. They weren't... alive. Not really. The guys we just... fought. They definitely were still alive." The blonde witch crossed her arms, a frown visible on her face.

"That doesn't exactly make much sense, Mr. Arc."

"I know," Jaune replied, scratching the back of his head. "It's not something I can really explain." The professor sighed, about to say something else when someone interrupted her, his deep gravelly voice making all the hairs on Jaune's body stand.

"Then perhaps I can show you what the boy means." Imaar said, stepping out from the darkness of the trees.


	42. Summoning

**A/N: More fun, more fun!**

* * *

"You have grown." Imaar commented, nodding at Jaune. The man took a step to his right, stepping over one of the bandit's bodies, Jaune taking a step to his left to kept the man equidistant with him. "If you had been on Nirn, found the right teachers… you could have grown into something great." The man sighed, a small chuckle slipping through. "How fortunate of me that this wasn't the case."

"What do you want, Imaar?" Jaune asked firmly, hand gripped on Crocea Mors. The masked man paused, looking at the boy for a second, before spreading out his hands, his body language showing that he wasn't here for a fight.

"I'm here to talk." Imaar said. "I was hoping that you would… reconsider my offer. After seeing what I am capable of, and after seeing what you are capable of, I would like to say that working together, this world would give way much simpler than now."

"My answer hasn't changed. In fact, how about this." Jaune puffed out his chest, a rise of bravado flowing through him. "You leave Remnant right now. And I won't have to- have to kill you."

Imaar tilted his head to the side at Jaune's words, a hum coming from him. "You'll kill me? Are you sure about that?" Jaune didn't answer, instead keeping still and Crocea Mors in front of him, ready for any type of foul play. "I don't know. Seeing the way you handled these… scum, I'm not too confident that you could kill me in cold blood."

Professor Goodwitch took a step forwards, pointing her crop at the man. "But I can." She said, drawing in her power and throwing a tree trunk at him, aimed to crush the man where he stood.

Imaar raised his staff upwards, and slammed it into the ground, a streak of lightning striking the trunk and blasting it aside, into separate pieces.

"Wow that was cool." Ruby muttered quietly, her eyes firmly glued on the staff that he was holding. Jaune took a look too, wondering how dangerous the weapon could be. There were more staves and sticks attached to the man's back, ready to be drawn at any moment, it seemed.

 _ **Maldovah! Do you see what he has?**_ Vedrahgol's voice permeated through Jaune's skull, slightly startling him.

 _What, the bundles of sticks behind his back?_

 _ **No. The golden handle behind them all.**_

Jaune subtly craned his neck, trying to see what Vedrahgol saw. The was a flash of gold as Imaar took another step to the right, Jaune mirroring his movements.

 _Yeah. What about it?_

 _ **That… is an Elder Scroll**_ **.** The dragon gasped, rearing up. _**Be very careful about what happens next. With that scroll, the Dovah-Sonaak could wipe this whole party out in seconds.**_ Jaune's skin crawled at the thought, a shiver making its way down his spine.

 _That thing's that powerful?_ Jaune wondered, sweat starting to form.

 _ **Even more than you think,**_ Vedrahgol replied. _**No one really knows what the Scrolls do, or what it their function, but they have powers to unmake the world itself when used in the wrong way.**_

 _So what's Imaar going to do with his?_ Jaune questioned, his stomach getting queasier and queasier the longer Vedrahgol continued to talk.

 _ **I do not know. But you must make sure that he doesn't even touch the scroll.**_

 _That won't be hard at all_. Jaune thought to himself sarcastically, rolling his eyes. Straightening up, Jaune took a deep breath in, looking at the man.

"… I see you are all eager to kill me." The man said quietly, one of his hands stroking the staff that he held in his hand. "If you think you have a chance, by all means, stay and die." Suddenly the mask turned, looking at each and every person standing in front of him. "But if you value your lives… I give you hope. Run." The man said seriously, taking his first step forwards. "Run and do not look back, for you will only see death and destruction behind you." Imaar drew himself up to his full height, the air around him filled with menace. "I will give you a minute to decide."

And silence fell around them.

No sound was uttered from both sides, and even the trees and animals didn't make a sound, no Grimm heard for miles. It felt like even the wind stopped blowing, to let everyone ponder on their decisions in complete silence.

No one moved though.

Every single person in the ARC unit stood tall, weapons in hand as they got ready, tensing and untensing, waiting for the appropriate trigger.

A minute passed by.

The dragon priest stood there, looking back and forth at the thirteen standing against him, and nodded once, a slow acknowledgement to them.

"So be it."

And lightning coursed through the air, striking Professor Goodwitch in the torso, sending her flying backwards. Quickly the man grabbed another staff, so fast that it looked as if the object had teleported into his hands, and pointed it at the group, an enormous fireball streaking towards them.

"Fus Ro Dah!" Jaune screamed, the force of the shout powerful enough to rip the fireball into sparks, the blonde knight charging in with another battle cry. That was enough to spur everyone into motion, all thirteen of them surging forwards with screams of their own.

The battlefield, if that's what it could be called, exploded with action, Jaune having a hard time keeping track of everything happening around him. He was sure he heard Nora's grenade launcher, Ruby's Crescent Rose, and a _hell_ of a lot of metal hitting metal. Jaune did the best he could, swinging at the man, who ducked and weaved through the attacks, wielding so many staves more fluidly than Jaune could wield Crocea Mors. Lighting, fire, ice, and so much more flew around the man, like an impassable barrier, the thirteen of them actually getting pushed back by the one man.

Jaune tried to find openings, and discovered that his shouts were the only thing that could keep them standing. He drew every bit of knowledge he had learned from Vedrahgol, blasting as many as he possibly could, only stopping when he felt his throat protesting, an early warning to tell him when he might've lost his voice permanently.

And still the man stood there impassively, two staves in his hands, blasting away, occasionally letting loose a shout or two that would keep them on their toes. He was a whirlwind, and anything that tried to get close was ripped to shreds.

 _What do we do?_ Jaune asked. Vedrahgol growled, shaking his head.

 _ **There are many things that we**_ **can** _ **do, but should not,**_ The dragon replied, as if he was talking to himself. _**Focus on the priest, and find a weakness.**_

 _I don't see anything_. Jaune replied, frustrated.

 _ **Try harder**_.

Jaune clicked his tongue, dodging a wayward lightning blast, trying to focus his eyes to find a weakness. It wasn't something that Jaune was very good at, always having trouble exploiting things like that when in practice matches. When it came to finding a specific weakness during a fight like this?

It was damn near impossible.

 _I certainly don't have the ability to exploit weaknesses so easily,_ Jaune thought, jumping out of the fray. _But there's someone here who is._

"Pyrrha! Ruby!" He called out, catching their attention. "I need your help!"

It took a little while for them to separate from the fight, but Jaune was still able to help out whenever he could with a well placed shout or two, forcing Imaar to focus a little bit of his concentration on stopping Jaune.

Ruby and Pyrrha landed beside Jaune, looking at him inquisitively.

"Can you help me spot a weakness?" Jaune asked, pointing at Imaar. "I need to find something that'll help me get past that wall." The two of them nodded, and stood there like statues, watching the fight from a distance.

The time in between was nerve-wracking, Jaune forcing himself to sit out as well, watching his friends get tossed around when he wasn't able to help. Suddenly Ruby pointed to a spot to the left of Imaar.

"There! Do you see that?" She asked Jaune, who squinted at where she was pointing, before he shook his head, not sure what she was looking at. She didn't speak for another second, before pointing again. "There!"

"What're you talking about, Ruby?" Jaune asked, confused. She turned to look at him with an annoyed expression, pouting a little.

"Don't you see it?" She cried out.

"Not exactly." Jaune replied, rolling his eyes. "I don't think I'd be asking you if I did."

"Look closely," Pyrrha stepped in, getting close to the blond knight. "Wait for it... there!" Jaune looked, and found a small shimmer where she pointed, and squinted. It was true that he could see the faintest disturbance of air there.

It was a tiny opening, but it was there.

"Okay," Jaune muttered to himself, a plan formulating in his mind. "I think I can work with this."

Jaune took a deep breath and took off, getting close to that spot, waiting for the perfect time to strike out.

When the haze come to again, Jaune leapt, tearing through the wind wall, close enough to touch Imaar, who immediately knew something was off. The priest turned and pointed one of his staves at the blond boy, letting off a blast of fire, which Jaune deflected with his shield. Not knowing what to do, Jaune charged at the man, tackling him onto the ground, where the two of them struggled back and forth with each other. Imaar found the upper hand when one of his hands found purchase on Jaune's head, grabbing the knight's hair and pulling him aside, tossing him across the side.

Standing up, Jaune let screamed a shout, letting the blast ripple through the air and combust, flames rushing to engulf Imaar.

The masked man waved it away with contemptuous ease, before raining down lightning and hellfire on Jaune, causing him to fall on his knees while his shield took the pressure of the attack.

 _I can't win this on my own,_ Jaune realized, desperately looking to find someone to help him. There wasn't anyone though, the rest of them still separated by the wind wall that had been created.

"It's over Jaune." The man said coldly, taking steps closer to the boy. Jaune raised his head, a defiant snarl on his face. Imaar tilted his head to the side, a little amused by the feeble display of strength. Without another word, the man grabbed another of his staves, ready to strike down Jaune with a finishing blow.

"Wuld Nah Kest!" Jaune shouted, almost teleporting past Imaar, dodging the strike. Without much thinking, Jaune dove again, but instead of aiming to take the man, he grabbed onto the second biggest target: The Elder Scroll. Ripping it off of Imaar's back, Jaune fall down, scrambling away from the man.

"No!" The man yelled, shooting another magical burst of energy at Jaune. The boy grit his teeth and let it hit him, propelling him backwards a little further.

His head swam, but Jaune pushed through, hoping that the power of the Elder Scroll would aid him in this fight. Opening the artifact, he was blinded by light brighter than the sun, a roar of snow filling his ears.

Again Imaar screamed, this time tinged with fear.

After that, the battlefield grew silent, even the howling winds subsiding. Jaune rubbed his eyes furiously, trying to regain his sight back. In the meantime though, Jaune was able to hear the crunch of boots on snow.

"See? I told you the Scroll would point the way." A male voice said calmly, Jaune hearing a softer, more feminine voice scoff.

"Yes, but it could have very well killed us both instead." The female one said.

When Jaune's sigh finally cleared up, he was met with the backs of a muscled man and a slim woman, the same ones that he had seen in his dream, staring at Imaar.

Imaar took a step back, hands shaking a little, before he whispered one word in despair.

"Dovahkiin."


	43. Out of Depth

**A/N: Yeah, I'm still here. Still kicking. Hopefully I can keep it that way :P Btw, if I ever mention the name Miraak, that's my bad, I actually meant Imaar. I get those two mixed in my head a lot. Like, a lot. XD**

 **Guest1: I'll try my best :) I really want to finish this story.**

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"Dovahkiin?" Jaune whispered, looking at the man standing in front of him. He was tall, blond, and wielded a sword of iron, gleaming in the sunlight. For all intents and purposes, the same words could describe Jaune. But the man in front of him was more than that. He hadn't moved a muscle, but the boy sitting on the ground behind him could see that he carried himself with a purpose, a deadly aura surrounding him in a way that suffocated Jaune, brought a tightness around his chest that he had never experienced, even against Imaar.

Hell, even with the mask on Jaune could tell that the Dragon Priest looked terrified. It showed when the masked man pointed at the buff warrior, commanding the men around him to attack.

And none of the bandits even twitched. Most of them actually lowered their weapons, looking nervously amongst themselves, conversing in low voices. Sure, when they were fighting the Huntsmen they were dying off by the droves. Sure, they didn't get much back for their efforts. But they did get a few hits in. They did seem to push the small force back.

And they didn't know, or at least they didn't care about the reputation that the Huntsmen seemed to carry with them. The Dovahkiin?

Everyone had heard of him.

The woman standing loftily besides him had just as much of a reputation. Black locks styled into a braid, eyes glowing orange, a pin denoting the status of a pureblood vampire clasped around her cloak. Her hood protected her from the sun, but the hood didn't hide anything about the amused smirk that adorned her face as she looked around at the opposing forces.

Finally one of the men broke, letting loose an arrow, the point flying towards the scarred man.

Jaune wasn't sure how to describe what happened next, but he tried his best.

The man reached behind his back, grabbing a beautifully crafted white bow, pulling it out halfway. Jaune blinked, and found himself in the middle of a bloodbath. Arrows stuck out of a dozen men, feathers flowing out of eyes, blood staining several throats. The man in the middle drew the last arrow from his once full quiver, and let it loose towards Imaar. The arrow struck and deflected off of the man's mask, sending him reeling. Through all of this, Jaune could hear the woman sigh, shaking her head in disappointment.

"You always rob all of the fun," She complained, before lifting her hand, a ball of red and black swirling around her fist. Suddenly one of the few men standing around started to choke, falling onto his knees before expiring, the woman giving a more self satisfied sigh. "That's better."

Imaar seemed to curse the man, shaking his fist once before he pulled out the second scroll secured on his back, the air rippling around him, a tear in space forming behind him.

"Fus Ro Dah!"

Jaune felt a shock through his system as he heard one of his most used shouts come out of the man's mouth, but different.

If someone had to compare Jaune's shout to the man in front of him, he would have to say that Jaune's was like a gentle breeze to the tornado that left the warrior's mouth.

Like a bomb had exploded out of the man's throat, the ripple was powerful enough to create a visible ripple, tearing up the ground and debris, some of the smaller trees getting completely uprooted. The bigger, more mature trees had the bark stripped off of them, turned into deadly projectiles, chasing after Imaar, who was lifted off his feet and thrown like a rag doll that weighed nothing. After chaos finally settled, Jaune blinked, trying to get the ringing out of his ears. Turning, he found all of his friends doing the same thing, most of them unused to such caliber of sound, even if most of them have fired large caliber rounds without any hearing protection. The blond knight was pretty sure that there was a crack on Professor Goodwitch's spectacles, which told enough about the strength of _just_ the sound itself.

"So this is the male that Meridia told me to assist?" Jaune started, finding the man, the Dovahkiin kneeling in front of him, examining him. "He is not the warrior that I expected to find." Before Jaune could say anything to defend himself, the woman that had accompanied the man shrugged.

"Maybe he's of the wizarding type. Not everyone can be a beatstick like you, you know." The man raised an eyebrow, turning a critical eye at the smirking woman.

"You're saying that to me?" The man stood up, gesturing at himself. "The Archmage of Winterhold?" She scoffed, crossing her arms and rolling her eyes.

"A past-prime Winterhold. And through extenuating circumstances. I'm pretty sure _I_ could've been the Archmage if I wanted to at that moment." The big, burly man stuck out his lower lip, Jaune not recognizing that he was pouting until the man turned to face away from the woman, crossing his arms as well.

"Doesn't matter. It still counts."

"I'm sorry." Professor Goodwitch finally stepped in between the two of them, intent on trying to straighten out the confusion. "I thank you for saving us, but may I ask who the two of you are?"

The man grinned, but turned to his companion. "It's nice to know that no matter where I go, it seems I'm still a mystery." The woman rolled her eyes again, pointing to the sky.

"New world, new rules." She said simply. The man's shoulders shook as he laughed, tossing back his head.

"True enough I suppose." The man turned towards the professor, expression suddenly serious. Professor Goodwitch took a step back.

At that moment, the situation that they were in solidified in Jaune's, and probably everyone else's mind.

This man was so powerful that he made one of the strongest professors of Beacon take a step backwards. Nevermind the fact that he had killed a dozen men faster than Jaune could blink, that wasn't something tangible that he could measure. Seeing his professor take a precautionary step backwards, something that he had never seen Professor Goodwitch do before?

That set a bad feeling in his stomach.

"I... am called many things." The man finally said, breaking the tension that had formed in that rough second, created due to every student tensing up, all thinking the same thing that Jaune had thought. "But you make call me Dovahkiin, or Dragonborn, whichever one makes you more comfortable."

"You never like introducing yourself by your name, do you?" The woman said teasingly, raising an eyebrow. She shook her head, turning to look at the professor with her glowing eyes. "I am Serana, Daughter of Coldharbour."

Neither one of the titles rang a bell in Jaune's mind, but sounded heavy enough. And from the stir of recognition that caused Vedrahgol to start, it meant something to the dragon-soul as well.

"Well... Dovahkiin, Serana. Thank you for saving us." The woman bowed deep, a sign of respect from her. The man, Dragonborn, crossed his arms and dipped his chin low, while the woman stood there, eyes tracking Professor Goodwitch's movement.

Almost seeming to ignore the thanks, the Dragonborn turned back to Jaune, tilting his head.

"What makes you so special, whelp?" Jaune wasn't exactly sure what a whelp was, but it didn't sound very good.

"I... don't really know?" Jaune said questioningly, not sure why he was all that special in the first place.

"Don't be so modest Jaune." The boy turned to look at his girlfriend, who looked fiercely at the blond warrior. "You were the one to pulled us through all of the dragon encounters. Killed most of them yourself."

"Oh?" The man said, a spark of respect in his eyes.

"I didn't kill them singlehandedly, if that's the impression that you got," Jaune protested, waving his hands in front of him. Yang pulled him close before he could speak further though.

"But _practically_... Jaune did. He did most of the work, with his... shouting and swordplay." Jaune wanted to protest further, wondering what Yang was getting from making him sound way better than he actually was. Neither of them got a word though, as the man stepped forward, the respect in his eyes replaced by genuine interest.

"You can shout, boy? How did you gain that ability?" Jaune drew back a little, surprised at the intent interest. The Dragonborn didn't move, waiting patiently for the answer.

"... It's my semblance." Jaune answered warily, causing the man to tilt his head in confusion.

"Semblance? Is that some sort of magic on this world?" He asked, his brow crinkling.

"Sort of." Jaune said, his flow of speech seeming to return as he started to gain the idea that the buff warrior wasn't going to hurt any of them. "It's a sort of... talent. That all of us have."

His eyes narrowed in thought, before he nodded, accepting the idea.

Lightning crackled in the air, causing all of them to turn their heads up towards the sky, seeing dark clouds that weren't there a minute ago forming. Jaune's attention was brought back down to level when he heard a foreign curse, the Dragonborn shaking his head.

"I had almost forgotten the effects of world traveling." He said quietly, turning to face the Professor. "Would you happen to know anywhere we can bunker down for a while? The storm that is to come will be violent, and it is best that we don't stand right in the epicenter of it."

The blonde professor nodded, but her expression made it clear that she wasn't completely sure what was going on. "How do you know that this would be the center of it?" Professor Goodwitch asked, while she gestured for everyone, including the two otherworldly travelers to follow her. This time, it wasn't the man who answered, but the calm voice of the woman, Serana.

"Because we were the ones who created it, when we tore through reality to travel here." She answered, pulling back her hood as the sunlight faded from the sky. Her eyes seemed to glow brighter as the darkness encroached them. "The world doesn't like it when we mess with its very foundation." She shrugged dismissively. "It will get over it sooner or later. But for now, the world is angry, and it intends to mete it out, full force."

Blue eyes flashed under Goodwitch's glasses as she nodded sharply, breaking into a sprint, expecting everyone to follow along. Jaune and the unit did so unconsciously, used to the pace that they had been setting the past few weeks. Realizing that they might leave behind the Aura-less companions, Jaune slowed down for a second, turning to make sure the two of them knew where they were going.

"Why did you slow down?"

Jaune tripped on his feet as he found himself face to face with the pale woman, surprise getting the better of him. In the ten seconds that they had started moving, the group had traveled almost the better of three hundred meters. And the pair of travelers was standing right next to Jaune, eyebrows raised as they wondered why he had suddenly slowed down. They didn't even look like they were slightly winded.

"Okay then." Jaune muttered, shaking his head before taking off again. "Shouldn't be so surprised by everything."

And all of them took off again, speeding backwards, towards the city that they had just cleared from the frost dragon, intent on finding cover from the storm overhead.

Hopefully, they would be safe for a few hours, from all types of dangers.

One would hope.


End file.
